My Blue Heaven
by Celtic Cat
Summary: Fourth in the Rose and Spike series. Would you believe a visit from the stork? Complete. Please R and R.
1. A Big Surprise

4

I do not own the characters from Angel, the great and powerful Joss Whedon does.

My Blue Heaven

Once again, it started in a place that was not a place, nor did time have any meaning. It merely was. And without going into all the details, it was there that dwelt The Powers That Be.

Citrine: "They seem to be happy enough together, but something seems.., incomplete."

Sienna: "Haven't we interfered enough?"

Cerulean: "This is Rose of which we speak. And no matter how long she is away, she is still one of us."

Violet: "And this is reason enough for us to break precedent, again?"

Viridian: "Since it is Rose, though, perhaps just this once. And then, we really should desist."

Sienna: "If we are going to limit ourselves to a single time, then let it be done well."

Citrine: "One of each?"

&&&&&&&

Rose stuck a cautious toe into the roiling water. "It's awfully hot," she remarked. "Is it supposed to be that hot?"

Spike stifled a sigh. "That's why it's called a hot tub, sweetheart," he explained. He decided to avoid a lengthy debate. He picked her up and stepped into the tub with her in his arms. He settled them down into the steaming water.

"And being par-boiled is romantic?" Rose scooted off Spike's lap to sit on the seat beside him. "I merely ask for information."

"You're supposed to just sit back and soak out all the aches and whatnot," Spike advised. "And it has been known, upon occasion, to put people in the mood."

"When did you ever have a problem with getting me in the mood?" she murmured, snuggling against him despite the heat. It wasn't so bad after a while.

"As I recall, just last night I heard, 'Not tonight please, Spike, I have a headache'," he complained. "I had to spend a whole evening on my own, then you come home and don't even want to..,"

"If you had spent the evening at a Q'xlzr fertility ceremony," Rose interrupted. "You'd have a headache too. The entire ritual is sung. I felt like my ears were bleeding."

"Tell me again why you went to that anyway," Spike asked. "It wasn't even for your demon, was it?"

"It isn't 'my' demon," she said, with traces of exasperation. "It was for its first offspring who just came of age to reproduce. It's a very important event to a Q'xlzr, and it wanted its friends in attendance."

"Just for the record," Spike queried, getting curious despite the fact that the weekend in the romantic hotel in the honeymoon suite, no less, had a much different purpose than discussing the love-life of Q'xlzr demons. "You keep calling that demon an it, so how can it have offspring?"

"They reproduce by fission," Rose explained. "I think the singing has something to do with it. Gets the cells stimulated into reproducing violently, then, it splits in two, and you have two demons where there was one."

"Very enlightening," Spike remarked. He then recalled why they were there, and gave her a long, very passionate kiss, hands groping at her bikini-clad body under the water. "You don't have a headache tonight, do you?"

Rose was about to reply when she heard giggling voices approaching. "Spike, stop, someone's coming," she cautioned.

Spike vaulted out of the tub in a spray of water, and hauled Rose out, then picked her up and headed back to their room. "I'm not yet," he teased. "But I expect to be soon enough."

&&&&&&&&

A few weeks later, Rose was headed for Lorne's office. She was up on the rotation for a mandatory screening. To be honest, she wished that just this once, she could duck out of it. She wasn't feeling her usual self. But, unlike the light of her life, she didn't avoid any of her responsibilities, or even try to postpone them. People often remarked on the radical difference between duty-struck Rose and devil-may-care Spike. There were even a few that were willing to put money down that it wouldn't last. So far though, the two lovers were as tight as ever with no sign of trouble on the horizon.

Lorne glanced down at his appointment book. He was about to heave a self-pitying sigh at the thought of another employee screening until he saw whose name was there. Instead of a trial, this screening ought to be the high point of his day, getting serenaded by his precious Rosebud.

There was a knock at the door. "Come on in, darlin'," he called out, sure that it was Rose. The lady was punctual to a fault. He looked up, and was a trifle alarmed at what he saw. He immediately came up out of his seat and around the desk. "I don't usually suggest singing sitting down," he began. "But you're looking a little green around the gills, lambkin. And to be entirely honest, it doesn't work as well for you as it does for me."

"I think I may be coming down with the flu again," Rose muttered, happy enough to sit down. "I've been feeling queasy for the last few days."

Lorne put a hand to her forehead. "Well, it doesn't feel like you're running a temperature," he remarked. "Maybe it was just something you ate that didn't agree with you."

"Well I wish that whatever it is would get over and done with," she said. "Because I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired."

"Why don't we get the dirty work out of the way then?" the demon suggested. "What are you going to favor me with this time, blossom?"

"Day is ending Birds are wending Back to the shelter of Each little nest they love," Rose sang, and felt that it left something to be desired. Feeling ill seemed to be having an effect on her singing. But she plowed on through it, knowing that the Pylean enjoyed hearing her voice. "Nightshades falling Lovebirds calling What makes the world go round? Nothing but love."

Lorne listened intently. Rose's voice was just a teensy bit off today. Maybe from singing sitting down, although it shouldn't make that much difference. And the jumbled images he was receiving was like nothing he'd ever picked up from her. In fact, the last time he'd gotten such an indecipherable mélange of images, the woman who had been singing for him had been.., He suddenly sat bolt upright, making the connection. The last time the images had been so scrambled he'd been listening to a pregnant woman sing. He was back up out of his chair, pulling Rose to her feet and into a big bear hug. "Congratulations, Rosebud."

"What are you talking about, Lorne?" Rose hugged back, but was still mystified. Even more so because to the best of her knowledge her green friend had seldom seen anything but gloom and doom in her future.

"You don't know yet?" Lorne held her out at arms length. "Of course you don't, that's why you don't know why your poor tummy's upset. But you need to make an appointment with a doctor right away," he babbled on. "Not a regular doctor, an obstetrician, I mean."

"Lorne, slow down and try to be coherent," Rose begged. "And what do you mean about making an appointment with an obstetrician? Isn't that a doctor who delivers.., oh dear." She slid out of his arms and back into the chair. "But that's impossible. I haven't been with anyone but Spike, and vampires can't..," She looked up at the demon helplessly. "Can they?"

"Sugarplum, I am not all-seeing and all-knowing," he admitted. "Last time I looked, that was your field. But you most definitely have a bun in the oven." He went back around his desk and started flipping through a rolodex. "Just sit tight, punkin. Uncle Lorne is on the job." He found what he was looking for, and dialed a number. "Hey, Michelle, doll." He switched gears to show-biz mogul. "I wanted to ask you a big favor, babe. I've got a good friend here who just found out that she may be expecting a little visit from the stork. Can you clue me in on that o.b. you were raving about? Oh good. Think he'd be willing to take on a new patient? Well, bless your heart darlin', I owe you a big one. And expect a dozen roses before the day is out." He hung up and waited expectantly.

"I thought you were getting the name of a doctor for me." Rose was in the dark again. She had a feeling that it was the beginning of a new trend for her.

"She's calling up the doc herself and putting in a good word for you, blossom," the demon explained. "Then the doctor's office should be..," He was cut off by the phone ringing. "Wolfram and Hart, entertainment division. Oh, thanks a million. Her name is Rose Powers. When? I'll make sure she gets there. Thanks again." He hung up the phone. "Michelle must have worked a spell on them. You're in for a pregnancy test today. Sorry, doll-baby, but you're going to have to give up your lunch hour for it."

"Lunch has very little appeal for me at the moment," Rose replied. "But why do I need a test? Didn't you just see it?"

"Doctors don't generally use seers to tell whether or not there's a baby on the way," the Pylean explained. He handed her the slip of paper he'd been furiously scribbling on during his first phone conversation. "There's the doctor's name and the address. Be sure to let me know how it all goes."

"I will," Rose promised. She didn't see what a test would prove. Just hearing Lorne tell her she was pregnant made her feel like she was getting fat already.

&&&&&&&

Dr. Pratt was a kindly-looking, middle-aged balding man who had immediately put Rose at her ease. It was her first experience with a doctor that didn't work for Wolfram and Hart though, and she was more than a little intimidated by all the medical procedures. And a bit grossed out by some of them. She sat in the waiting room fidgeting, wondering how long it would take.

"Ms. Powers?" A nurse beckoned her to follow, and led her back to the doctor.

"Your guess was right, my dear," Pratt boomed jovially. "You are definitely about to become a mother." He handed her some prescription slips. "See that you get those filled right away, you're going to need them if you want a nice, healthy baby."

"I'm not sure I could even keep a pill down right now," Rose muttered, shuffling the papers in her hands.

"One of those is for the nausea," he replied. "It's important that you eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. Now, more so than ever. See the receptionist on the way out and she'll schedule your next appointment. And if anything at all doesn't seem right, just give me a call. This is your first time, isn't it?"

Rose nodded. "How often will I have to come here?" she asked.

"Once a month for now," the doctor replied. "When you get to the last month of your pregnancy, we'll shorten it up to once a week. For right now though, I advise you not to worry about a thing. You're a young, healthy woman, and there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't have a perfectly healthy baby."

&&&&&&&

Rose took a cab back to the office, it hadn't once occurred to her to ask Angel for a lift in one of the company cars. She was still in a daze, from o.b.'s office to drugstore and back to work. Part of her felt a little warm glow at the thought of her impending motherhood. But there was a little voice in the back of her head that kept repeating, how are you going to break the news to Spike?

&&&&&&&&&&

"There you are, Rose." Wesley was waiting in her office when she returned. But his voice sounded more relieved than angry. "Where have you been?"

"I had a doctor's appointment," she explained. "I was gone a little longer than I thought I'd be. I'm sorry, Wesley."

"I wish that you would get over that desire of yours to apologize incessantly," the Watcher remarked. "Your health comes first. Would I be terribly rude if I asked what the problem was?"

Rose opened her mouth to tell him, then did an about face. "I think I'd better tell Spike first," she demurred. "But you are on the list to find out about it. Was there something that you needed me to do?"

"A red light started flashing over this prophecy," he replied, flipping open a book to the appropriate page. "Get right on figuring out what you can about it, all right?"

"No problem," Rose assured him. A wave of nausea hit her. Maybe she ought to see if those pills would do the trick. She picked up her bag containing the prescriptions and dumped it on the desk. While she was sorting through them, Spike sauntered in.

"See you started panicking too soon again, Watcher," he remarked. Then he saw the pill bottles scattered over Rose's desk. "What's with the drugs, babe? Are you sick?" His face took on an expression of extreme concern.

Wesley quietly faded out of the room. He had a feeling that the two of them were going to need some time alone. And he'd taken a stealthy peek at one of the bottles before it rolled over and hid its label from view. Pre-natal vitamins. He was feeling rather good about the whole thing till he got to his own office and it suddenly occurred to him to wonder how Rose had gotten pregnant.

&&&&&&&&&

"You're what?" Spike's voice rose an octave in shock. "But babe, that's impossible. There's no way I could have gotten you knocked up."

"The doctor says otherwise," Rose replied. "And so did Lorne." She was still looking a little apprehensive. "You do want it, don't you? I mean, you're not upset that we're going to have a baby, are you?"

Having gotten past the first hurdle of disbelief, well, that was the only one there was, really. It didn't once occur to Spike to question Rose's fidelity. He trusted her implicitly. A sappy and very un-Spike-like grin crossed his face. He knelt on the floor in front of her and pressed his head against her still-flat stomach. If he listened very carefully, past the noises of the busy office building, not to mention the protesting gurgles that Rose's queasy stomach produced, he could hear a fluttering beating sound that sounded faster than the tattoo of a hummingbird's wings. "We're going to have a baby," he repeated in awe. "Of course, I'm not upset, babe." He reluctantly lifted his head away from her midsection so that he could hug her. "I'm not upset at all." The grin reasserted itself. "A baby."


	2. Slouching Towards Bethlehem?

9

At first, Rose was merely relieved that Spike wasn't disappointed at the thought of a baby. But then, she began to worry, because he seemed to be rooted to the spot, staring at her stomach.

"Spike?" she said tentatively. No response. She leaned forward to touch him, see if she could get a reaction that way, when he blinked and surfaced from the daze he'd been in.

"Should you be doing that?" He reached out to touch her, then pulled his hand back, as if he was afraid he'd break her.

"Doing what?" As far as Rose knew, she wasn't doing anything.

"Well," Spike floundered. "Bending. At the waist like that." He looked worried.

Rose groaned inwardly. Spike had always been very protective of her, but she had the feeling now, that she hadn't seen the half of it. "The doctor gave me a whole list of dos and don'ts," she said soothingly. "And I'm pretty sure that leaning forward wasn't on the taboo list."

Spike looked relieved. "I'll want to be having a gander at that list myself," he remarked. "Sometimes you don't think, sweetheart."

Rose just stared at him, jaws agape, not believing what she'd just heard. Spike was accusing her of being irresponsible? "Darling," she said, forcing her voice to remain calm and even. "Why don't we continue this discussion when we go home? I've got a lot of work to get done here."

"Now wait just a bloody minute." Spike realized that kneeling on the floor at her feet probably didn't offer him the strongest position in an argument, so he stood, looming over her, hands planted on the armrests of her chair. "You can't be working. You ought to be at home resting, luv."

"Actually, the doctor said that working shouldn't be a problem," Rose replied. Good grief, what had gotten into Spike? "In fact, since my job is so sedentary, he suggested that I get up and take a walk during my lunch break, just for the exercise."

"What kind of idiot doctor did you see anyway?" Spike growled.

"One who's been delivering babies for more than twenty years," she snapped. "So forgive me if I'm willing to believe that he knows what he's doing."

Spike was taken aback momentarily. Rose seldom snapped at anyone, most especially him. "I'm just concerned for you, babe, that's all."

"It's not an illness, and I'm not an invalid," Rose said slowly. She had an idea of how to get him out of her hair so that she could get some work done. "Why don't you go tell everyone the news?" she suggested.

What an excellent idea. Spike wondered that he hadn't thought of it first. He started towards the door. Then, he remembered something, and turned back to give Rose a kiss. Back out the door.

Rose sighed. If this was a foretaste of what the next few months were going to be like, then pregnancy was going to be a lot more of a trial than just dealing with the nausea.

Spike moved at a fast clip down the hall before it occurred to him to wonder just where he was headed. He stopped in his tracks for a moment. Who to tell first? Angel, he decided. Keeping it in the family, as it were. Yes, he'd go tell Angel first.

&&&&&&&&&&&

"Knock, knock." Wesley peeked around the door to Rose's office. Spike had left it open in his haste to tell the news. "Is the coast clear now, Rose?"

"Come in, Wesley." Rose was staring at the computer screen as if waiting for a revelation. As if she hadn't had enough of those for one day. She felt like someone had unhooked her brain.

"How did Spike take the news?" he asked.

"What news?" Rose was feeling very disconnected at the moment, and she'd forgotten that she'd promised to tell Wesley what was going on.

"I saw the label on one of those pill bottles, Rose," the Watcher replied. "And I don't believe that doctors are generally in the habit of prescribing pre-natal vitamins to someone who isn't pregnant."

"Oh, that." Rose's lips curved gently upward. "Spike is.., very pleased," she said guardedly.

"Why do I feel that there is a 'but' in the offing?" Wes inquired. "And by the way, just how on earth did the two of you manage..," He stopped, blushing. So much for professional curiosity, but it did seem more than a bit rude.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Rose admitted. "Do you think that it had anything to do with that Q'xlzr fertility ceremony that I attended?"

"That only works on Q'xlzrs," he pointed out. "You're human, Rose. You didn't cast a spell or something, did you?"

"Of course not!" Rose was appalled that he'd even think she'd try something that foolhardy without his backup. "I don't know how it happened. It just did. But according to the doctor, it must have happened sometime around the weekend after I went to that ceremony."

"I'll certainly have someone look into it," Wesley said. "But did I guess correctly that you had some reservations about Spike's reaction?"

"Should you be bending at the waist?" Rose muttered. "You can't be working. You should be home resting. What kind of idiot doctor did you go to anyway?"

Wesley burst out laughing, as much at Rose's imitation of Spike's accent as the phrases she'd been repeating. "So Spike wants to wrap you in cotton-wool, does he?" He gave Rose a look and saw that she was far from amused. "We'll get around Spike, Rose. No need to worry." He frowned a moment. "Do you want to take the rest of the day off?"

"Not you too," Rose moaned. "I am perfectly fine, Wesley. I do not need to go home, I do not need to be cosseted. I do not need to be treated any differently. Are we clear on that?"

"Perfectly clear," he replied, a bit stunned at the outburst. Then, as Rose suddenly got to her feet, he asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to throw up, thank you," she replied, and bolted from the room. She really hoped those nausea pills worked.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Spike was whistling merrily as he sauntered down the hallway. He spotted Harmony just coming out of Angel's office. He grabbed her around the waist and spun her around and planted a kiss on her cheek. "We're having a baby, Harm," he crowed, all cock-of-the-walk.

"Who's having a baby?" Harmony was confused. And Spike hadn't been this friendly to her since, well he hadn't, ever. Even when they'd been together, he'd usually treated her like an annoyance.

"We are," Spike failed to explain. "Me and Rose. We're having a baby." Before Harmony could formulate a reply, he released her and breezed on into Angel's office.

"We're having a baby," he announced fatuously.

Angel looked up from his paperwork, his brow furrowed in mystification. "You're what?" he asked.

"We're having a baby," Spike repeated slowly. Had to take into consideration that you had to speak slowly and clearly when addressing a half-wit. "Me and Rose are having a baby."

"How did that happen?" Angel wasn't any closer to enlightenment.

Spike just gave him a dose of the trademark smirk, but it rapidly degenerated into the same sappy smile that he'd had earlier in Rose's office.

Angel sighed. He wasn't sure how it could have happened. But he was sure that there was no way that Rose had ever cheated on Spike. It simply would never occur to her. "Vampires aren't known for being able to father children," he pointed out. "So there had to be something else that caused it." He felt a pang, thinking of Connor. An evil god had taken hand in his conception, and he just hoped it wasn't something like that now.

Spike deflated like a balloon that had been stuck with a pin. "What are you trying to say?" he asked in accusing tones.

"I'm saying that the dead can't create life," Angel said bluntly. "Look, I think it's great that you're happy about it, but..,"

"But what?" Spike demanded. He sat down in the nearest chair. He was feeling more shaken now than he had when Rose had first broken the news.

Angel sighed again. Painful as it was, he'd better tell Spike the whole story. Him, Darla, Cordelia, Connor. "This is going to take a while."

&&&&&&&&&&&

Rose dragged herself back to her office. The first order of business was to take one of those pills. Right now, she felt all weak and wobbly from her bout of vomiting. She read the instructions, popped the pill into her mouth and chased it down with a sip of water. "Please, please, let it work," she muttered.

"Let what work, blossom?" Lorne poked his head inside her door. "You promised to give me an update when you got back from the doctor's, sweetpea."

"The pills for the nausea," Rose explained. "I've just been sick, and I really don't recommend it. The doctor confirmed your reading, though. It wasn't nearly as pleasant an experience. I dread the thought of going through all that again next month."

"Sugarplum, I've been doing some thinking since you left," the demon started out. "And far be it from me to cast aspersions, but just how did you get into your current condition?"

Rose shrugged. "Wesley asked me the same thing," she muttered. "And if everyone else asks me, I think I'm going to start screaming. I don't know. I just know that I'm going to have a baby and that Spike and I are both happy about it."

"And I'm thrilled for both of you," Lorne broke in. "But you have to admit that it is a little out of the ordinary."

"I don't know," she admitted. "Maybe I'm just a little frustrated because I don't know." Her hands went to cradle her stomach protectively. "I want this baby, and Spike wants it too."

"Well then, that's all that's really important, isn't it?" he asked. "Spike didn't have a problem with it at all?"

"It was something of a shock to him," Rose confessed. "But then, that seems to be going around. But after that, he was fine with it. More than fine. Smothering might be the best word."

"Best get used to it, Rosebud," he advised. "Because I have the feeling that by the time the news gets around, everyone's going to be jumping on the bandwagon."

&&&&&&&&&&&

"You and Darla had a baby," Spike repeated as if he were reciting lessons. "Who was spirited off to a hell dimension and came back a week later as a teenager who hated your guts. Then junior sleeps with Cordelia, gets her in the family way. She gives birth to an evil god which turns Cordy into sleeping beauty. Did that cover the high points?"

"How about you getting the point that it took the intervention of a god for vampires to have a baby?" Angel queried. "I hope that there's nothing evil behind Rose's pregnancy, I really don't. But the fact remains that you simply couldn't have gotten her pregnant just by sleeping with her."

"We weren't sleeping," Spike remarked with a smirk. "What is your problem with this? Are you just jealous or what? Can't stand the thought of me bein' happy?"

"If that was the case I would have chased you out of here ages ago," Angel replied. "Be happy all you want to. But be careful too." He stood up and went to the window, not wanting to face Spike at the moment. "Cordy was.., a good friend," he muttered, stopping far short of the mark. "And it half kills me to think that I might never get to see her open her eyes, talk, laugh, even make sarcastic remarks. I don't want to see anything like that happen to Rose, and I'm sure that you don't either."

Spike frowned. "Of course I don't," he averred. "I'd rather cut off my arms than see something like that happen to Rose. Do you really think it's likely?"

Angel shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just advising caution. But Cordelia went through her pregnancy in a matter of a few weeks. I think that if Rose's progresses normally, there'll be less to worry about."

Spike chewed his lip in indecision. "Does Rose know about this?" he asked.

"I honestly don't know," Angel confessed. "And no one else remembers Connor, so I'd appreciate you not talking about it with them."

"But Rose might know from before," Spike pressed. "From when she was a Power."

"She might," Angel conceded. "But if she does, she never let on to me about it. Listen, I hope I'm just being overly cautious. I hope that there's nothing nefarious in the works and that she has a perfectly normal, healthy baby." He decided to cheer himself up a bit by taking a shot. "Although I do feel kind of sorry for the kid, having you for a father."

Spike flipped him the two fingered salute and left.


	3. Learning Curve

16

By quitting time, Rose was more than ready to go. How many people had Spike told? She'd scarcely gotten a thing done for all the well-wishers and the merely curious popping their heads into her office all afternoon. She was so distracted by the myriad thoughts whirling through her head that it didn't even register on her that the vehicle Spike was leading her to was not the sporty little number he usually drove (Not the Viper, he only liberated that for special occasions. Angel had been furious when Spike had taken it for their weekend away).

"What on earth is this?" The car seemed to Rose's inexperienced eye to be only a little smaller than one of the company limos.

"It's a car, a means of transportation," Spike hedged. A flippin' boat, he thought to himself. But he knew how reckless he could get when he was behind the wheel of a sports car. Most of the times they went out, Rose arrived white-faced and clutching the armrest for dear life. And that was most definitely not on, not now. He wasn't entirely sure how she'd gotten the baby in her belly, but he was going to do his damnedest to see that she didn't miscarry it. He handed her into the front seat as if she was made of spun glass.

As soon as he'd settled behind the steering wheel, Rose asked, "Do you suppose that you could teach me how to drive?"

Luckily, Spike hadn't even turned the key in the ignition yet. He turned to stare at her. "Why this sudden urge to learn to drive, pet?" he inquired cautiously.

"Well, I was thinking that it would be more convenient if both of us drove," Rose replied, trying to keep the tone light. Truth to tell, she wasn't at all enthusiastic about learning to drive in L.A. Being a passenger was bad enough.

"And on the rare occasion I may be too busy or not up to the job," Spike said, hating saying it, but for some reason hating the idea of Rose behind the wheel even worse. "Then you know my nancy-boy grandsire would be more than happy to send a car."

Rose frowned. "I hate constantly imposing on Angel, love. It just doesn't seem right when he allows us the use of a car..,"

"Can't just go to a car lot and get one with these hexy windows," Spike interrupted. "And the ponce can only drive one of them at a time."

"You don't want me to drive, do you?" she asked in a small voice, as he finally turned the engine over and started backing out of the parking spot.

"You don't really need to, sweetheart," Spike replied. "And with all the maniac drivers in L.A. I really don't feel comfortable with the thought of you out on the road."

"You drive like a maniac," she pointed out.

"I'm working on that," Spike said. "Babe, I really just want to do what's best for you. For our baby. To keep you both safe."

Rose had been about to make some remark about him wanting to keep her dependent, but his last comment just caused her to melt into a puddle of sentimental goo. "If you feel that strongly about it, darling, I won't harp on the subject."

Spike heaved a mental sigh. He'd been worried that she would back him into a corner about it and force him to either teach her to drive or deliver a flat refusal. But best get totally away from the subject for now. "Do we have anything in the fridge that's fit for you to eat, luv?" He usually didn't pay much attention, since all he really needed was blood. But it did occur to him that Rose had a tendency towards convenience foods. She really needed more nutritious fare now.

"We just went shopping a couple of days ago," Rose pointed out. "I've scarcely eaten anything recently. Too nauseous. So there's plenty of food."

"I mean good stuff," Spike explained. "Not that pre-packaged frozen crap you usually eat. You've got to take care with your diet, sweetheart. Did the doctor by any chance give you a diet to follow?"

Rose thought for a moment. "I don't know," she admitted. "There were an awful lot of papers, and I just haven't had time to go through them all. But if all the things I eat aren't good for me, then why am I healthy? And why would it make any difference to the baby's health?"

Spike carefully negotiated the car into his usual parking spot. Bit more of a challenge with such a big car. He turned to face Rose, and just looked at her for a while. An activity he always enjoyed. But this whole baby thing was getting out of hand fast. She knew about demons from a-z, but damn all about human reproduction or even why the slop she'd been eating wasn't all that good for her. And no doubt, she had no clue about babies, either. Well, they were on even footing on that subject. He felt a cold chill. What did he know about raising a kid?

&&&&&&&&

Rose had never been so glad to get to the office. She'd thought all the well-intentioned busybodies were trial enough, but the way Spike had hovered over her all night had been the dizzy limit. And then, he hadn't even.., Well, he said they couldn't, because of the baby. As soon as she was safely locked in her office, she called the doctor.

&&&&&&&&

"Sorry to bother you, Rose," Angel apologized, as he ushered Rose to a seat in his office. "But I thought we ought to talk."

Rose sighed. "It's because of the baby, isn't it?" she asked. "Is an impending birth always like this? Everyone asking questions and just generally wanting to know how it happened?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that the last part doesn't hold true," he remarked. "With a human couple, they know exactly how it happened. If people here seem to be overly concerned, it's only because they know how unlikely it is. In fact, most people would think it completely impossible that you could have gotten pregnant by a vampire."

Rose stared at him pointedly. "You and Darla had a baby," she pointed out.

"I didn't know if you knew that or not," Angel confessed. "I never know what you do and don't remember from when you were one of The Powers."

"I know," she said quietly. "And I know what was involved in it, and the sacrifice you made just to see your son happy, Angel. But I'm not evil. I haven't been taken over by anything evil, I'm sure of it."

"I'm not saying that you are," he replied. "But something or someone very powerful must have taken a hand to get you pregnant."

"You don't suppose..," Rose let her voice trail off suggestively. "I mean, we were never supposed to interfere with personal lives except as how they affected the larger picture, but they could do it."

"The rest of The Powers?" Angel was stunned. It was so simple. And extremely plausible. He could well believe that The Powers That Be were still looking after one of their own. "I suppose that I ought to warn you, though," he added. "That since most people believe that it's impossible for Spike to have gotten you pregnant, that they're going to think that someone else did."

"I would never do anything like that!" Rose blurted out indignantly.

"I know that," he replied in soothing tones. "I'm just trying to prepare you for the small minds that are always more than willing to believe the worst. You and Spike have caused more office gossip than just about anyone else around here, and there are bound to be a few uncharitable tongues wagging. I thought you ought to know about it. My advice on the subject is to just ignore them. If you react, you just feed the fire."

Rose mulled it over for a moment, mostly working out the metaphor. "You're saying that if I tell them that they're ill-mannered and graceless that it just encourages them?"

Angel nodded. "Exactly."

"Maybe you could explain something else to me, then," Rose commented. "Why is Spike acting so strangely all of a sudden? He doesn't want me to come to work, he doesn't think I should pick up anything as heavy as my briefcase. I can't eat what I used to eat. I can't use the lavatory without him asking me if something is wrong. And I had to call the doctor today to find out if we could, well, if..," She faltered and blushed.

"Spike said that you couldn't have sex?" Angel asked. He'd known Spike for quite a number of years, and had never known him to turn down the opportunity to have sex.

Rose blushed even more furiously and nodded. "And the doctor said there wasn't a problem. So why would Spike think that there was?"

"Much as I hate to admit it," Angel remarked. "I think Spike is doing his very best to take care of you and the baby. So, even if it is a little awkward, give him some slack on this one Rose. He really doesn't know much more about it than you do." He paused. "Did you have any more questions?"

Rose thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Do you think I'm starting to look fat?" she asked.

&&&&&&&&&

Rose did break down and ask Angel for the use of a chauffeured car during her lunch break. She came trudging back into her office with an armload of books.

"I'm pretty sure that you don't need all those for researching that prophecy," Wesley remarked. "And if you feel a need for more research materials, you don't need to spend your own money on it."

"These aren't for the prophecy," Rose replied, unceremoniously dumping the books on her desk. "They're for my own personal use."

Unable to resist, Wesley started picking up books and reading titles. "Early Childcare. What to Expect When You're Expecting. Bonding With Your Baby. The Obstetrician's Handbook. Do you really think you need all this, Rose?"

"I don't know anything about children, except that they're smaller and generally cuter than adults," Rose wailed. "I don't even know about any of the changes that my body is going through except that there's another life growing in it. Do you think I need those books, Wesley?"

"Point taken," the Watcher replied. "But I think you may be going just a bit overboard, Rose." He suddenly gave her an accusing look. "Have you been online?"

"Just one site," Rose confessed in a small voice. "I really do want to know what is going on."

"And what did you find out on that site?" Wesley had a sudden sinking feeling about the whole thing.

"What could go wrong in a pregnancy," she mumbled. "It was very.., disquieting."

"You probably shouldn't have looked at that," Wesley remarked. "Rose, has your doctor said anything about there being any sort of complications in your pregnancy?"

"No," she admitted. "But I thought..,"

"What, that you'd frighten yourself half to death?" he asked. "Stop borrowing trouble, and just concentrate on the advice that your doctor has given you." He glanced over at the books again. "And once you get that prophecy sorted out, you might consider chatting to some mothers of young children. I'm sure that you'll get much more practical advice than you will out of that horror site you visited or the tomes of child care manuals."

"Do you really think so?" Rose inquired.

"I really do," Wes answered. He looked at his watch. "We've already wasted about ten minutes of company time, so I'd suggest that we get back to work."

&&&&&&&&

Spike was channel surfing, trying to find some sort of distraction. Problem was, Rose was enough to distract him from everything. He heard the bedroom door creak ever so softly on its hinges, and spared a thought to wonder what Rose had been up to. But he didn't look until Rose, clad in a clingy satin nightdress placed herself squarely between him and the t.v.

"Just what are you up to, babe?" It was a stall tactic, and not much of one at that. It was pretty damn obvious what she was up to.

"I called the doctor from work today," she murmured, sliding down into his lap. Her arms went around his neck, and she started nibbling on his ear.

"Rose, didn't we talk about this last night?" Spike asked a little desperately. It wasn't like she had to go to this much trouble to turn him on. "What are you doing?"

"I'm seducing you," Rose whispered in his ear. "The doctor said that it's all right. We won't have to stop until the last few weeks."

"But.., but..," Spike was at a total loss. He was trying to do what was best for Rose and their baby. And somewhere in the back of his mind was something that said a pregnant woman shouldn't be having sex. And sod what the bloody doctor said.

Rose abandoned his ear and was working her way down his neck, alternating kisses and nibbles. Spike groaned, his good intentions went to the four winds and he gave in to the inevitable.


	4. Complications

23

"That was dirty pool, luv." Spike pulled her close to him, just savoring the feel of her.

"If all I had done was talk, would you have listened?" Rose asked.

"Probably not," he admitted. "But are you absolutely sure that the doctor said..,"

"Yes, darling," she interrupted. It was far from the first time she'd answered that particular question. "Why don't you come with me on my next appointment? You can talk to the doctor yourself. Then, maybe you'll believe that he actually does know what he's talking about." She had at the time no notion of just how that particular idea was going to come back to haunt her. Or maybe a better phrase would be to bite her on the ass.

"I believe I'll take you up on that offer, pet," Spike murmured reflectively. "I've got a few questions of my own for the doctor. Are you positive that he said it was okay if we..,"

"Yes, love," she replied wearily.

&&&&&&&&&

"Wesley, can we please put some wards on my office?" Rose asked plaintively. "I haven't made a blind bit of progress on that prophecy yet because people keep sticking their heads in my door to ask stupid questions or just gawk. I can't even begin to concentrate. And Etruscan isn't one of my better languages to start with."

"That prophecy is written in Sumerian," Wes pointed out quietly.

"Didn't I say that?" Rose looked baffled.

"No," he disagreed. "You said Etruscan. You must be rattled if you can't tell the difference between Etruscan and Sumerian."

"I can tell the difference," she snapped. "It just must have come out wrong, that's all. Can we get back to discussing what to do about the snoop brigade? You'd think none of them had ever seen a pregnant woman before."

"Why don't we save the wards as a last-ditch resort?" he suggested mildly, thinking that the mood swings were already kicking in. "I'll have a word with the appropriate division heads first. Which ones are the worst offenders?"

"All of them," Rose remarked sourly. "People from all over the firm. People that I don't recall ever having seen before and don't know who they work for. And some of my uninvited visitors are division heads."

"Perhaps then I'd better speak with Angel about it," he conceded. "Was there anything else?"

"I'd love a cup of coffee," she said wistfully. "The diet the doctor gave me said in moderation, but some people don't understand the word moderation. And I don't mean me."

The Watcher grinned. "Just a small one then," he allowed. "And if Spike finds out, I haven't a clue who your supplier is."

"Your secret is safe with me as long as I get a cup of coffee out of it." Rose smiled back and offered him her hand as a co-conspirator, and Wesley shook on it.

&&&&&&&&&&

"Do you think we should tell her about it in advance, or surprise her?" Fred asked.

"Let's surprise her," Harmony replied. "Surprises are so much fun. We'll get everything set up and ready to go before we breathe a word of it to her."

"We don't want to wait until the very last minute, though," Fred cautioned. "We ought to give her a little bit of warning, or else we'll find that we're having a baby shower with no guest of honor."

Harmony pouted for a moment, then brightened. "Well, we could always just invite her over and then spring it on her. You know, make sure we're on her calendar, but she won't know exactly what for."

"That could work," Fred conceded. "I know that everyone is interested in being there, so how do we keep the list down? As far as I know, we're about the only female friends that Rose has."

"There's a psychic that did a reading on her once, I think," Harmony frowned in thought, the unaccustomed activity giving her a headache. "I know we don't want a big crowd, but we want more than two or three people, don't we?"

"I'm not sure," Fred reflected. "I know that the more people there are, the more gifts she'll get, and she's going to need everything. But do you think she's going to want a bunch of comparative strangers there?"

"Let's see, you, me, the psychic and the women in her department," Harmony ticked the list off on her fingers carefully. "That's only about six people. Do you think that will be enough?"

"It's not like it's going to be a media event," Fred pointed out. "Just a baby shower." She had a thought. "We could ask Spike if there's a neighbor or something that she's friendly with and might want there."

Harmony giggled. "Like Spike would know."

&&&&&&&&

"Angel, I know that Rose is something of a nine-days wonder right now," Wesley began. "But all the curious people stopping by her office are keeping her from getting anything accomplished. And according to Rose, they're from all over the firm. The word seems to have spread like wildfire."

Angel sighed. He felt as close to Rose as Spike would allow any male other than himself. But ever since her arrival, it seemed that three-fourths of all the upheavals that took place at Wolfram and Hart had Rose right at the center of things. To be fair, he couldn't blame her, it wasn't like she planned it. Even taking over the evil law firm and trying to turn it around sometimes seemed like a walk in the park compared to keeping Rose out of trouble. "I'll send out a memo," he promised. "Worded as strongly as possible. But that just means that people are going to go out of their way to think up 'legitimate' reasons why they just have to see Rose."

"Rose wanted me to ward her office," the Watcher commented. "They've got her so jangled that she can't tell the difference between Etruscan and Sumerian. Maybe I should just go ahead with it."

Angel shook his head. "We'll try the softer approach first," he decided. "But we may eventually have to go with the wards. If we do though, make sure they don't keep Spike out. If you tried to keep him away from her now, I think he'd probably conveniently forget he has a soul and tear your throat out."

"I haven't done anything like that since Spike was a specter," Wes pointed out a bit primly. "But if you could get that memo out immediately, I'd appreciate it. My department is losing a lot of productivity with Rose being unable to get any work done."

"Have you done anything on your own to see about a mystical reason for Rose's condition?" Angel asked. "I think that you and I both know that Rose would never cheat on Spike. So there's got to be some other force at work. The only acceptable possibility that I've heard of is that the rest of The Powers had a hand in it. But until we have some way of verifying that, I'd feel more comfortable with someone doing a little research on the side."

"Already working on it," Wesley assured him. "And I've shot down Rose's first theory that it had some sort of connection with her attending a Q'xlzr fertility ceremony. It would have absolutely no effect on a human. Other than ruptured eardrums."

Even tone-deaf Angel winced at the memory of hearing a Q'xlzr demon sing, so he could sympathize. "So go start digging," he suggested. "And I'll get that memo out."

&&&&&&&&

"Hey blossom, how's it going?" Lorne entered her office just at lunch time.

"It's not going at all," Rose grumbled. "If it's not all and sundry sticking their noses in here and interrupting my train of thought, it seems that my train of thought is jumping the tracks. I'm having a miserable time trying to concentrate. I've had this prophecy that Wesley dumped on me sitting here for a couple of days now, and I haven't even gotten the first paragraph translated." She paused and thought about it for a moment. "Does being pregnant take all the blood away from your brain?"

"Outside my field of expertise, sugarplum," the demon admitted. "But I didn't come here to analyze you, doll, just feed you."

"I brought my own lunch," she protested. "I'm not skipping meals, Lorne, really I'm not. I think Spike would skin me alive if I did."

"We're just concerned that you're taking proper care of yourself and the little one," Lorne replied. He took the sack with her lunch, examined the contents and unceremoniously tossed it in the trash. "PB&J? That's not exactly the most healthy meal imaginable, punkin. Luckily, Uncle Lorne is here."

Rose closed her eyes briefly and offered up a brief prayer for patience to whomever might be listening. "So, what is your idea of a healthy meal?"

&&&&&&&&&

Rose had finally been able to get Lorne off her case by informing him of the doctor's suggestion that she do some walking during her break. Otherwise she'd still be sitting in her office letting the demon stuff her full of various fruits and vegetables and lean meat all washed down with what seemed like a gallon of milk. She felt bloated. And fat, definitely fat. She picked up the pace. She knew that there was going to be an inevitable weight gain, but she was determined to keep it to the minimum that she could and still ensure a healthy baby. She went a little faster.

Gunn saw Rose and fell into step with her, not too easy since she was practically jogging by now. "Rose, what gives?"

"The doctor said I needed to get some exercise since I work sitting down," Rose panted. "I may not be getting much work done, but I'm going to get some exercise in. I think Lorne was trying to stuff a whole week's nutrition into one meal."

Gunn grinned. "Could you slow it down a little bit, Rose?" he suggested. "You don't want to overdo it, and going this fast makes it hard to talk."

She slackened the pace a bit. If Gunn thought it was hard to talk, she was finding it nearly impossible. She really did need more exercise, and not just for the baby's sake. "Did you have something particular on your mind, Charles?" she asked. "Or are you going to ask me how I got pregnant like everyone else?" Her eyes flashed warning signs.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he laughed. "Heard a lot of it, have you?"

"From Angel on down," Rose grumbled. "The only person who hasn't asked how is the one who probably has the most right to know. Except that I don't have any answers."

"Have you been to personnel about your insurance forms?" Gunn asked. "Having a baby can cost an awful lot of money. Let the insurance company take as much of the burden off you as possible."

"I think they asked me about insurance at the doctor's office," Rose admitted. "But I didn't have a clue what they were talking about. So they just asked me where I work and said they'd call here for me. Can you explain insurance to me?"

Gunn grimaced. He could give her all the legal ins and outs of insurance law, but he decided that that wasn't what was being called for on this occasion. "Each payday, the company takes something out of your check to pay for medical insurance," he explained. "Then when you need medical services, the insurance pays for part of it. Think of it as saving money for medical necessities."

"What a clever idea," Rose marveled. "Humans come up with some really amazing things sometimes. And you say that I have to go to the personnel office?"

"There will probably be a few forms to fill out, medical history and so forth," he replied, forgetting, even with her reminder that she didn't have much of anything in the way of a history.

"Um, Charles, how far back am I expected to go with this 'medical history'?" Rose asked.

"Everything, childhood immunizations and diseases and.., oh hell." Gunn stopped in his tracks. "I see the problem. You don't have a history, medical or otherwise."

"Exactly," Rose agreed. "Will this have any effect on the 'insurance'?"

"Damned if I know," he admitted. "You're a unique case, Rose. Tell you what, your next office visit isn't for a while, is it?" Rose shook her head. "I'll do some checking for you and see what strings need to be pulled. Don't worry, we'll find a way to work something out. A company that can insure vampires and demons shouldn't have a problem with you even if you don't have a medical history."

"What would a vampire need medical insurance for?" Rose wondered.

"I think it's for emergency blood transfusions," the lawyer replied. "But one thing at a time, okay? First let's make sure that your pregnancy is covered so you can waste your money buying cute stuff for the baby."

&&&&&&&&

The walk had taken Rose rather farther afield than she had intended, and she was about to turn around when she met up with Harmony.

"Hi Rose," Harmony burbled. "Spike told me the good news. Congratulations." She hesitated a moment, looking unaccountably shy. "Could I.., listen?"

Rose's face went blank for a moment, wondering what the littlest vampire was asking, then, it hit her. "You mean to the baby?"

"Yeah, I think it would be so cool." Harmony turned pleading eyes on her. "Nobody else here really likes me much. At least not the ones that are having babies. I just want to hear it. But they all seem to think that I'm going to bite the baby right through their stomachs."

"Go ahead and listen, Harmony," Rose invited. She had a soft spot a mile wide, and it wasn't difficult to engage her sympathy.

Harmony bent down and put an ear against Rose's stomach. "It's so fast," she said in awed tones. "This is absolutely incredible. Can I do it again sometime?"

"Of course you can, Harmony," Rose agreed. "But right now, I think I need to get back to my office."

&&&&&&&&&

"How was your day today, sweetheart?" Spike asked as he massaged her tired feet that evening. Rose was beginning to see a few advantages to her condition. Spike had always been considerate in the extreme, but he was finding new ways to pamper her of late.

"Hectic without actually being productive," she admitted. "But I think Wesley is going to try to do something about that. He said he was going to talk to Angel about everyone dropping into my office."

Spike sniffed. "Nosy buggers. Why don't they get lives of their own?"

"I don't think I could answer that one even if I tried," Rose mumbled, eyes drooping shut. The days were wearing on her nerves, and she was finding Spike's touch very relaxing, which was not one of the words she had previously attached to Spike touching her in any way. "The only people who haven't asked me how it happened so far have been Charles and Harmony."

"What did Harm have to say?" asked Spike suspiciously. He still hadn't gotten over his ex-tumble's initial animosity towards Rose.

"She just wanted to listen to the baby," Rose replied. "Just like you do every night. That was the easy part. I had almost as much trouble understanding Charles as I've had answering the idiot questions."

"What did Gunn want?" Spike was starting to scowl.

"Questions about filling out forms for medical insurance." Rose was more than half-asleep now. "He said he'd look into what could be done since I don't have a medical history."

"Bloody pain in the ass," he muttered. "Can't hardly wipe your ass without filling out a form, can you, pet?" When there was no answer, he looked up and saw that she'd nodded off. "Guess I'll take this to mean that I'm not getting any tonight," he remarked softly. He spent several minutes just looking at her, feeling the warm glow build up. Then, ever so gently, he lifted her into his arms and carried her off to bed.


	5. Prophecy

29

Rose woke up in bed with no idea how she'd gotten there. A quick glance around the room, seeing her clothes in an untidy heap suggested quite strongly how she'd gotten to bed. She turned her head to look the other way. Slowly, carefully, hoping not to wake Spike. And found herself gazing into the blue depths of a wide-open pair of eyes. She should have known better.

"Morning, luv," Spike drawled, pulling her close for a cuddle. "Sleep well?"

"Evidently." It was nice, just laying in Spike's arms, not doing much of anything, but she seemed to feel rather more pressure on her bladder than usual. According to her books that stage of the pregnancy was sometime off, but her body wasn't listening to the experts.

When Rose emerged from the bathroom, she started picking clothes up off the floor when the queasiness hit her. As she raced back to the bathroom, she managed to gasp out, "Could you please get me one of my nausea pills, love?"

&&&&&&

Some time later, things were picked up to Rose's satisfaction, and Rose's queasiness had subsided and she'd had something to eat, to Spike's satisfaction.

"Do you have any idea what you might like to do this weekend, pet?" Spike finished brushing her hair, enjoying the sight of the silky chestnut waves falling around her shoulders.

"Not really, no," she replied. "Was there something you had in mind?"

"Matter of fact, I do," he responded with a smirk. "Haven't taken you out shopping for new clothes for a while. I kind of miss it."

"But why should I buy new clothes now?" Rose asked. "Pretty soon I'm going to be too fat for them." She looked at her reflection critically, trying to see if anything was starting to show yet.

Spike wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him. "That's why we'll get you some maternity clothes, babe." He turned her around, then dropped to his knees, pressing his ear against her stomach. It almost seemed that he was afraid that if he didn't listen in on the baby frequently, it wouldn't actually be there. This time, he listened even longer than usual, a frown of concentration on his face.

"Is there something wrong?" Rose wasn't sure what Spike would know about it, even though he had spent over a century among humans as opposed to her few scant months. But surely he had to know more about it than she did.

The happy, sappy grin that was becoming part of his facial repertoire asserted itself. "You may need those maternity clothes fairly soon, luv," he remarked.

"Why is that?" she queried.

"Tell you later," he replied mysteriously. "But there's nothing wrong, babe. At least nothing that I can tell." He started whistling while he chivvied her into shoes and jacket, but refused to say another word on the subject no matter what tactics Rose used to attempt to pry the information out of him.

&&&&&&&&

"Did we have to get an entire wardrobe in one day?" Rose moaned, flopping down on the sofa. Despite the fact that Spike was laden down with boxes and bags, her hands were empty. They had had quite a heated row about it in the store to the amusement or embarrassment of nearby shoppers, depending on their inclinations. Right now though, Rose was glad not to be carrying anything. Her feet ached. They almost never hurt like this. She must be gaining weight, she thought, conveniently forgetting that she really wasn't on them all that much anymore.

Spike emptied his loaded arms into a welter on the bed. They could sort it all out later. Maybe they should've taken things in stages though. Rose looked all wrung out. "Sorry, pet," he apologized. "I guess I just got carried away." Maybe next time he should wait till dark, limiting the time they had till the stores closed. But a mall with a built on parking garage added to a Wolfram and Hart supplied car had simply added opportunity to his impatience. "But you really do look cute as hell in those maternity clothes."

"I looked fat," she argued. That had been another running topic of contention. Spike looking forward to her belly beginning to bulge, and Rose dreading it.

"Bollocks," he said rudely. "Besides, you're going to have to deal with the fact that you're going to gain some weight, luv. It's part of the deal."

"I know," Rose admitted. "I've just been feeling a little crabby lately. And tired." She yawned. "See? After all that sleep I got last night, I could still lay down and take a nap."

"I'll clear the bed off," Spike offered, heading for the bedroom.

"I said that I could, not that I was going to," she snapped, then sighed. "There I go again. I'm sorry, darling. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Spike joined her on the sofa. "You're growing new life inside you, sweetheart," he murmured in awed tones. "Bound to take a bit out of you. Are you sure you don't want that nap?"

"Maybe later," Rose conceded. "Right now, I think I want something to eat." She got up and headed for the kitchen. Spike followed her and watched in amazement as she built herself a sandwich. The term built was definitely appropriate. He privately thought that she wouldn't be able to open her mouth wide enough to take a bite. And what she put on it. It looked to him like she was using a little bit of everything she could find in the fridge. It looked ghastly. But she surprised him again by not only being able to eat it, but also apparently enjoying it immensely.

&&&&&&&

Rose had finally given in and taken a nap, and it had rested her enough that she had had the energy for other activities later that night. Instead of holding her in the afterglow as he usually did, Spike was laying with his head carefully rested on her stomach, listening, again.

"Seems a little strange," he remarked, running a hand over the curve of her hip. "You bein' so dainty and all that you have room for all three of us inside you."

"Three?" Rose mumbled. The surge of energy had burned off, and she was ready to sleep again. "Do you mean you, me and the baby?"

"I wasn't counting you, pet," Spike replied, finally abandoning his listening post and coming up for a snuggle. "You live there. I was talking about me and the kids."

Rose was utterly confused now. "Why are you referring to our baby in the plural?" she inquired.

Spike kissed her. "Babies," he corrected. "I heard two heartbeats. And neither of them is yours. Theirs beat a lot faster."

"Two babies?" She felt a surge of panic. One baby, though a joy, was a little intimidating to someone who had literally had no experience with them, even to being one. Two though, was threatening a full-scale panic attack.

Spike smiled and cuddled her closer. "Don't get yourself in a tizzy, babe." He gave her another kiss to reassure her. "I predict that long before they make an appearance, you'll have more advice on taking care of them and raising them than you know what to do with."

&&&&&&&

"Any progress on the prophecy, Rose?" Wesley peeked into her office Monday morning.

"A little," Rose replied. "So far, I've got something about one who was believed to be beyond redemption being the founder of a new race. But I've hit a snag. There's what looks like a deliberate crossing out in the next section, and I can't figure out how to bring up the words so they're legible."

"Let me see." Wesley peered at the text. "Yes, that does look as though it were deliberately defaced. I don't think physical means should be used, they might cause more damage. But I believe that I have a spell for this sort of thing. It may take me a while to find it, though."

"What should I do till then?" she asked. "I don't have any other projects running at the moment. Besides, I thought this prophecy was important."

"I said that it had a red light over it," he replied. "It's a system that Wolfram and Hart had in place, and we still use it because we haven't come up with anything better. But just because a prophecy is about to come to fruition, doesn't necessarily mean that it's important. I struggled with one translation, rushing it for dear life merely to find out that all it predicted was the arrival of a very minor and relatively benign deity so many dimensions removed that I wonder that that particular prophecy was even in the vaults."

"So there's no way of telling whether or not it's important?" Rose inquired. She rubbed her eyes. She wasn't entirely sure that she bought Spike's explanation of things, but she really did seem to be tired a lot of the time lately.

"Not until we get more of it translated," he admitted. "There's usually a little leeway as far as time is concerned. But you really look done in, Rose. Why don't you take the rest of the day off and get some rest?"

Rose was torn between biting his head off for suggesting that she was unable to do her job, and a real desire for as much sleep as she could possibly get. "Are you sure you can't put your hands on that spell anytime soon?" she asked, not entirely sure what she wished the answer would be.

Wes shook his head. "It's in one of my own personal files, and I haven't entered it into Wolfram and Hart's systems, nor do I intend to. So, yes, it will take a bit of looking. Especially since it isn't even in this building. It's at my flat."

Rose unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn. "Maybe I will take the rest of the day off," she conceded. "But don't expect me to make a habit of it. I'm getting a little put out with being treated like I'm breakable."

"Of course not," Wesley soothed. He then put on his sternest expression, although the twinkle in his eyes negated the effect somewhat. "I expect you to be back here bright and early tomorrow, hard at it."

"I will be," she promised. She yawned again. If being pregnant was taking this much out of her in the early stages, she shuddered to think what it would be like when she came near to term.

&&&&&&&&

"Hello, Harmony. Is Angel busy?" Rose asked.

"He's cussing out the paperwork again," Harmony replied with a giggle. "Go right in. He'll probably be happy to have an excuse to ignore it for a while."

Rose took Harmony up on the offer, not even bothering to knock.

Angel didn't even raise his head. "Whatever it is, Harmony, it's going to have to wait."

"It's not Harmony for a start," Rose remarked. "When was the last time you got out of this office, Liam?"

"Too long," he admitted, pushing the papers away from him as if they were contaminated. "What brings you here, Rose?"

"I don't seem to have anything else to do," she confessed. "I'm stuck on my current project until Wesley can bring in a spell from his personal collection at home." Instead of asking him for transportation back to the apartment she shared with Spike, she had a sudden inspiration. "Would you like me to give you a hand with all that?"

Angel considered for a moment. Rose didn't really have any expertise in the things he dealt with as CEO of the law firm, but then again, neither had he when he had accepted the job. And she was a quick study. "Sure, why not. If nothing else, I'll have something pretty to look at while I'm dealing with all this." He saw her starting to flush, and also saw a look of consternation starting to cross her face. "And no, you do not look fat."

&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe that my desk is clean," Angel muttered some hours later. He looked at the time and realized that it was well past noon. "I forgot all about lunch." He slapped his forehead. "Why didn't you remind me, Rose?"

Rose shrugged and struggled for a reply. She'd actually gotten so interested that she hadn't noticed the passage of time herself. "I guess I didn't think to," she replied quietly. "Don't tell Spike, please, Angel. I'll eat something, but he seems to have the idea in his head that if I'm a minute late for a meal or something that I'm going to keel over."

Angel grinned. "Getting a little overprotective, is he?" For once though, he was firmly on Spike's side, though he'd walk into the sun before he'd admit it. Rose needed protecting.

"I think he's getting delusions, too," she commented. "Last night he was trying to tell me that I'm carrying twins. Don't you think the doctor would have said something about that if it were true?"

"Sometimes it's not obvious at first," Angel answered, drawing on his meager knowledge of the subject. "What makes Spike think it's twins?"

"He said he could hear two heartbeats." Rose was still having trouble dealing with the concept, so she acted like she didn't believe it, even though her faith in Spike was absolute.

Angel paused to consider. He thought he might put a vampire's sensitive hearing against medical science in this case, maybe. "May I?" he asked.

"Why not?" Rose replied. "You're the only vampire of my immediate acquaintance who hasn't yet."

"Harmony listened to the baby before I did?" Angel felt a little miffed about that, even though if Rose hadn't brought up the subject, he'd never have asked.

"She asked first," Rose pointed out. "I didn't mean to slight you, Angel. It just happened. If it ever happens again, I promise that you'll be second only to Spike."

"I guess I'll have to be satisfied with that," he conceded, grinning, realizing how childish he must have sounded. He went over to where Rose sat and started to lean down towards her stomach.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing, you bloody ponce?" came a voice from the doorway. Angel and Rose turned, looking for all the world like guilty conspirators caught in the act. Spike stood there, scowling.

"I told him that you said there were two babies and he was going to listen," Rose explained quickly, hoping to turn aside Spike's wrath. "He was just going to confirm your diagnosis, as it were."

Spike looked mortally wounded. "Don't you believe me, sweetheart?" he asked plaintively.

"Of course I do," Rose replied. "But it doesn't hurt anything to double-check, does it?" Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. She fought them back, but lost the battle. It was such a silly little thing to be crying about, but somehow, she just couldn't stop herself.

&&&&&&&&

"Were you able to distort the prophecy?" The creature speaking could have been the living embodiment of Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead. So, to a slightly lesser degree, in that it was smaller, was the one it addressed.

"I believe I have, my Lord," the underling sniveled. "But if I may make so bold, my Lord, distorting the prophecy does not prevent it from coming about."

"It buys us time, Kraj," the Lord replied. "It buys us time. And time we must have, to find the vessel of the prophecy and destroy it, lest it bring about an end to things as we know them."

"I and all the rest do search mightily for the vessel, Lord M'rek," Kraj assured him, groveling for good measure. "We will find it and destroy it, have no fear."

"I fear nothing," M'rek said haughtily. "But you have everything to fear if you fail me in this."

"Have I ever failed my Lord yet?" the toady sniveled.

"Of course not," M'rek replied. "That is why you are still alive. But if you fail me, I shall correct that."

&&&&&&

"Please don't cry, babe," Spike begged, dabbing at her face with a tissue. "I wasn't upset with you." He glared at his grandsire.

"I'm trying not to," Rose sniffled. "But I just can't seem to stop myself. Could this be what they call a mood swing?"

Spike and Angel both emitted relieved sighs. Neither of them liked to believe that they were the cause of Rose's tears. Somehow, thinking that it might stem from the radical hormone shifts made it a little more tolerable.

"'Spose it could be," Spike allowed. "Why don't you let me take you home now, pet? I think you've had enough excitement for one day."

Angel thought of protesting that he hadn't yet confirmed Spike's assumption that Rose was carrying twins, but decided to save it for later. Rose finally had the tears under control, and even though he couldn't lay claim to the blame, he probably would if he got into it with Spike and got her started again.


	6. The Vessel of Prophecy

33

"Kraj!" Lord M'rek's booming bass voice echoed in the subterranean chamber. "Kraj! You worthless piece of snail-slime, where are you?"

"Here, my most august and esteemed Lord." Kraj crept in, bowing and scraping, every nuance of expression couched in subservience.

"I believe I have found a slight flaw in the original plan," the Lord admitted, corners of his mouth turned down, fangs showing.

"Surely not, Lord." Kraj groveled at his feet.

"On your feet, slug. You contaminate the floor," M'rek barked. "It has come to my awareness that destroying the vessel out of hand may be a precipitate move."

"Surely my Lord does not intend to let the vessel be delivered of the new race?" Kraj whined. Privately, he thought it was about time that thought had occurred to his owner. Powerful, M'rek was. Nimble of wit, he wasn't, particularly.

"If we were to destroy the vessel, it could be the loss of a valuable opportunity," M'rek mused. "Suppose we were instead to capture the vessel, and thereby control the new race? Bend them to our will, train them to our purposes."

"A truly inspired idea, oh magnificent one," Kraj murmured. "Do you then so order that we capture the vessel rather than destroy it?"

"First you must locate the vessel," M'rek pointed out. "And how fare you on that score, worm?"

"The dimension, of course, has been known since the beginning of time," the servant informed his master timorously. "We are just now making progress in narrowing down the location. We now believe the vessel is to be found in a city called Los Angeles."

"Why then have you not already located the vessel?" M'rek demanded haughtily. "You know where the city is. Send in a team to scour it on foot and locate the vessel."

"The city is rather large for that sort of operation, most gracious Lord," Kraj remarked. "It covers an extensive area and is home to millions of souls. We have not sufficient personnel to cover it all."

"Most inconvenient," M'rek growled. "How then do you propose to locate the vessel?"

"We have scholars combing the prophecies for further clues," Kraj replied. "And if my Lord will authorize it, we will set the mentalists to scrying for the for the vessel as well."

"Whatever it takes to secure my possession of the vessel," M'rek conceded off-handedly. "Just see that you secure for me ownership of the vessel before she gives birth to the new race."

&&&&&&&&

Spike was irritated beyond measure, and trying not to let Rose see. He didn't want to upset her again. Damn Angel! What was the poncey bastard doing upsetting Rose anyway, he thought, totally ignoring the fact that Rose hadn't gotten upset until he had pitched his hissy. It took a concerted effort for him not to let his anger do the driving. He still had enough presence of mind to be cautious of Rose's safety. And the safety of their little ones. Just thinking about the tiny lives growing within Rose was enough to bring a smile back to his lips and drive off the irritation. Their babies. His and Rose's.

Rose could tell that Spike was out of sorts, he wasn't much of one to hide his feelings. She scooched down into her seat miserably and kept her mouth shut. She strongly suspected that her lover was put out with Angel when it was she who had made the invitation that had caused all the furor. Putting her foot in it again. When was she ever going to learn how to be human? It never once occurred to her that people who had never been anything but human made mistakes of equal or greater magnitude every single day. All Rose knew was that she had made trouble between Spike and Angel again. Admittedly, it often seemed to her that both of them looked for excuses to snipe at each other, but it still made her feel bad to have added fuel to the ongoing feud. She really did wish the two of them would get along. She considered Angel to be her best friend, and Spike.., Spike was everything. She sighed. Why couldn't the two vampires just bury the stake and get over it? Then, a sidelong glance caught the smile on Spike's face, and one lit up her features in response. If Spike was happy, then all was right with her world. And she knew why Spike was happy, because that particular smile had only appeared of late. Only when he was thinking about the child? children? they had somehow managed to create.

&&&&&&&&

"Are you going to go back to work, love?" Rose asked cautiously as they entered the apartment. Spike was carrying her briefcase, and only Rose pointing out how less than manly it might seem had prevented him from insisting on carrying her purse as well.

"Maybe." Spike refused to commit to a decision. "But not till after I get you tucked into bed, babe."

"I can put myself to bed," Rose protested. "But I was going to get something to eat first."

"So soon after lunch?" Spike was shocked. Usually the difficult part was to get Rose to eat at regular intervals. She still considered it a waste of valuable time. Well, she was eating for three.

Rose was willing to let it go at that, but her face was writ as large with guilt as if she had actually lied to him. And Spike was, more than ever, acutely aware of her expressions. "You didn't eat lunch, did you?" he accused. "Didn't that stupid nit think to feed you?"

"We lost track of time," she said apologetically. "I didn't skip lunch on purpose, and Angel was getting ready to do something about it. We just got a little side-tracked, and then you showed up. I was going to eat."

"I believe you, sweetheart," he relented, dropping her briefcase and giving her a hug. "I'm being an ass, aren't I? I'm just so excited about our blessed event that I'm getting a little single-minded. Forgive me?"

"If you'll forgive me for being such a bit..,"

"Apology accepted," Spike interrupted. "I know, I know, I talk like that. But it really doesn't sound right when you do, pet." He sealed the mutual apologies and forgiveness with a kiss. "Since I'm already AWOL, I don't imagine that they'll miss me if I don't come back right away," he murmured seductively. "Maybe we could..,"

"I thought I was going to get something to eat and then go to bed," Rose replied. "Go to bed as in sleep." She yawned, just as Spike was about to kiss her again.

"Back to the salt mines with daddy, I guess," he remarked a little ruefully. He got in another kiss before she could start yawning again. "I love you, babe."

"I love you too," Rose mumbled through a yawn. Maybe, she thought, she could get a nap first then eat.

"Be sure you eat something before you turn in," Spike ordered as he went out the door.

&&&&&&&

"Is Rose okay?" Angel was waiting at the door of the parking garage for him.

"If she is, it's none of your doing," Spike snapped. "You want to be remembering just whose bird she is, you big, dumb ponce."

"For crying out loud, Spike," Angel groaned. "I was not making a pass at Rose. And if you would just put those tiny little pieces of gray matter floating in the void between your ears to work, you'll realize that Rose didn't get all weepy until you came in and threw a temper tantrum. Over nothing."

"Wouldn't have happened if you'd kept your hands to yourself, stupid git," Spike sulked. "I mean, how would you feel if I was all over your..," It suddenly occurred to him that that particular argument could lead to places that he didn't want to go, now or ever. Both vampires tended to avoid mention of the Slayer and their respective pasts with her.

"I like Rose," Angel said quietly. "I care about her, and maybe I even love her a little bit." He saw the storm clouds threatening to gather on Spike's horizon again. "But not the same way you do," he added hastily. "And even if you don't trust me, and I'm assuming that you don't, do you really think that Rose would ever even think about being with anyone else but you?"

"That's not the point," Spike muttered. Right now, he was no longer sure just what the point was. Except for the part where he got to blow off some steam in Angel's direction.

"Then what is the point?" Angel wouldn't let it go, even though Spike started walking away from him. He just fell into step beside him. "Upsetting Rose when she's emotionally off balance, both from what her body is going through, not to mention that fact that it must scare hell out of her becoming a mother when she barely has any experience with being human? Enlighten me, Spike."

"She's not the only one it scares the hell out of," Spike muttered. "What in bloody hell do I know about raising kids? I want what's best for them. Problem is, I'm not sure that what's best for them is me."

"I guess that could be considered a step in the right direction," Angel mused. "The fact that you do want what is best for them. Just like you want what is best for Rose. Has that led you too far astray lately?"

"You mean like Rose getting kidnapped by bounty hunters and megalomaniacs and groped by horny demons?" Spike asked sarcastically. "Oh yeah, I'm battin' a thousand there, mate."

"And you weren't the cause of any of that," Angel pointed out. If he was human, his blood pressure would definitely be going up now. Spike just did always have that effect on him. "I think that maybe because of who she was, there's always going to be something about Rose that attracts trouble. But you're always there to take care of her. You make her happy. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"And just what do they say the road to hell is paved with?" Spike quirked an eyebrow at his grandsire. "Push off now, why don't you? Us working stiffs still have some time on the clock." He strode off down the hall leaving Angel standing there wondering if he'd actually gotten through to Spike or not.

&&&&&&&

Nothing in the kitchen appealed to Rose in its current form. Though she had pretty much zero training in cooking, she felt the urge to experiment. Humming, she put a large pot on the stove and started throwing things in. Whatever seemed like a good idea at the time. It even struck her as a little silly, a bit of this, a pinch of that. Getting into the spirit of things, she started chanting, "'Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake, Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog.'" Okay, the allusion was getting a little too gross. If she kept that up, she wouldn't be able to eat at all. And she knew that it would probably be one of the first things Spike asked her when he walked back in the door. With one leftover giggle, she threw in a random pinch of spice. "'Open, locks, Whoever knocks!'" And was more than somewhat startled when a sickly-colored smoke came roiling up out of the pot far faster than boiling could account for.

&&&&&&&

Making haste while groveling is not easily done, but it was a skill that Kraj had acquired after many years of practice. "They have found her, my Lord!" He was so excited that he forgot to keep his tones meek and servile. They bounced off the walls of the chamber like M'reks. "The scryers have located the vessel!"

"Be very sure of your information, Kraj," M'rek warned. "I would be most displeased if this were to be a false trail."

"I saw it myself, magnificence." The lackey remembered to resume his whining, subservient tones. "The crystal hung over the map when it suddenly was dragged to a place, then it lit up like a thousand suns. Surely nothing but the vessel could cause that sort of reaction."

"And a party is assembled to capture the vessel?" Lord M'rek inquired. "I want the vessel intact and unharmed. If she is damaged in any way, it could prevent the birth of the new race. A race that I, and I alone will control."

"They are ready," Kraj assured his master. "All that awaits is your lordship's word and the opening of the portal, which is in progress as we speak."

"I will accompany them." M'rek stood to his full, impressive seven feet. "I shall seize the vessel with my own hands to claim dominion over her and her offspring."

"If this unworthy one may make so bold, most dread Lord," Kraj murmured. "While your visage inspires both awe and fear, I believe that it is too unlike the inhabitants of the dimension where the vessel lies. In short, you would attract too much attention."

Lord M'rek scowled at Kraj. He had wanted to claim the vessel for his own in his own person. Evidently, that was not to be. "Give the word and send the party to fetch the vessel. When they return, they are to bring her to me immediately."

"It shall be as my Lord commands." Kraj sketched a quick bow and scurried out of the room to relay the orders.

&&&&&&&&

"Shakespeare may have been a great writer," Rose commented to herself. "But he was a lousy cook." One look at the inside of the pot told her that not only was whatever she had put in it now rendered totally inedible, but the cookware itself was a write-off. The blackened remains of her would-be meal had practically etched hieroglyphics into the sides of it. She left it sitting on the stove until it cooled down enough to throw out. She had already thrown all the windows open, and the smoke had dissipated, but the foul stench caused by the reaction hung on the air still, and was threatening to override the efficacy of the nausea pills. She hoped that the smell would be gone by the time Spike got home, but she had a sinking feeling that it probably wouldn't. She gave up on the idea of eating and went to lie down. Maybe if she could get to sleep, the smell wouldn't be so bad when she woke up.

&&&&&&&&

Hearing the first few lines of the prophecy had piqued Wesley's curiosity to the point that he had actually gone home during his lunch hour to fetch the spell to help him decipher the obscured passages. The spell worked perfectly, and the words jumped out with crystalline clarity. He read it carefully, then read it again. "Oh, hell and damnation," he muttered. He read aloud. "One believed to be beyond redemption shall be the founder of a new race. The vessel shall come from beyond worlds to merge with him and from their union shall come the new race. Where there was one, then two, shall there be many, then most, and in time, all. And the dark's children shall cease to be tools of evil and destruction, to become a force for good."


	7. The First Wave

36

She had been so tired before, but now that she had the opportunity to lay down for a while, Rose found herself to be wide awake. She had a churning sensation in her stomach that had nothing to do with nausea. It was more like.., anticipation. She punched the pillow and rolled over, trying to get some rest.

&&&&&&&

Wesley was bent over the desk, scribbling furiously, speaking as he wrote. "And lo, many shall be dismayed by the coming of the new race. They shall seize..? destroy..?" He stopped in mid-sentence, not entirely sure of the reading. Find out what was going to be seized or destroyed first. ".., the vessel, that the new race may be prevented from fulfilling their destiny." A block of ice formed in the Watcher's stomach. He gathered up the translations and thrust them into the hands of the first person he met. "Get these to Angel immediately," he ordered. Then he took off in the opposite direction. He only hoped he wasn't too late.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Wesley had been in such a rush that he hadn't realized that the person he'd designated as an errand runner was Fred, although he could hardly have made a better choice. Fred knew him well enough to take the urgency in his voice and manner at face value. She did as requested, and headed straight for Angel's office. It didn't keep her from reading as she walked, though. But the more she read, the faster she moved. By the time she'd finished reading, she was flat-out running down the halls.

Fred raced past a stunned Harmony and straight into the office. "Angel," she panted, waving the papers at him. "Rose is in danger. I think Wes is on his way there now." She leaned against the desk, trying to catch her breath.

Angel snatched the papers out of her hands, scanned them quickly and started swearing. He reached for the phone and froze a second, gripped by a moment of indecision. Then, he solved the dilemma. "Gunn? I need you to get Spike and meet me at his and Rose's apartment. No time for questions now, just do it." He hung up, grabbed his jacket and headed for the door, conveniently forgetting Fred.

Fred, however, did not forget him, and tagged along behind, winded though she was, sometimes grabbing the tail of his coat to keep from losing him.

&&&&&&&&

Wesley pounded on the door to the flat impatiently. Pray God he wasn't too late, he thought. An answer was so long coming that he was considering breaking the door down when it opened, and there stood Rose, a little rumpled, but alive and well for all that.

"Wesley?" Rose's voice was an equal mixture of drowsiness and bafflement. "What are you doing here?"

"No time to explain," the Watcher said urgently. "We have to get you away from here, Rose. Now."

She heard the tension in his voice without understanding why, and so made no protest when he grabbed her wrist and started off down the hall. They were almost to the exit when two large, grimly-determined looking men entered. Even dressed in ordinary street clothes, there was something about their bearing that screamed military training. As one, the pair of researchers turned and headed back for the apartment. The men followed.

Wesley put his arm around Rose's waist and half-dragged her along at top speed. The door to the apartment still stood ajar, so there was nothing to impede their progress. Once inside, Wes slammed the door shut and threw the bolts into place.

Rose was already struggling with a heavy chair, trying to drag it across the carpeting. Wesley decided that now was probably not the time to lecture her on overexerting herself while pregnant. They got the lion's share of the furniture pushed against the door while a rhythmic pounding shook the walls. Their instincts hadn't failed them. The men were trying to break in.

"Emergency exit?" Wesley inquired. Their makeshift barricade wouldn't hold up for long.

"Follow me," Rose whispered.

&&&&&&&&

Gunn winced as Spike wove in and out of traffic at speeds no human would have the reflexes to accomplish. He'd done his share of crazy driving, but this.., If Spike didn't have an accident, he would. "We've got to get there in one piece to help Rose, Spike," he reminded the vampire.

"Then shut yer gob and let me concentrate on driving," Spike warned. In less than half the time it should have taken, they had reached the apartment building. Spike drove around behind the structure into an alley that had little more than enough room to accommodate the car. Coming the other way were three oversized males whose bearing suggested they were looking for a fight. They were headed for a set of steps that led below the level of the alley.

"Emergency exit for our flat," Spike observed softly. "And I don't recall inviting them to tea." The buildings on either side of the alley left it fairly comfortably in the shade. "Let's check their invitations, shall we?"

Gunn was already removing his jacket and tie. "Let's bring it."

Spike stopped the car at an angle, using it to serve as a barricade between the approaching trio and Rose. Made it easier for both of them to get out of the car too. "I think you blokes must be lost," he said conversationally, perching on the hood. "Because I can guarantee you there isn't anything here you want badly enough to go through me for."

The car was set too closely to the buildings to go around, so Gunn went over the back end. "And you sure as hell don't wanna be messin' with a brutha," he added, slipping into street lingo.

The three measured their numbers and size against their two challengers and broke into evil grins. They kept coming.

&&&&&&&&

"This way," Angel directed. He and Fred had had a spirited discussion about her participation in things in the car. Actually, Fred had sweetly agreed with everything he'd said, then done it her way anyway. Angel was beginning to think he ought to throw in the towel when it came to arguing with women.

Their entry into the apartment's hallway was greeted by a loud crack as the front door to Spike and Rose's place shattered into splinters.

Angel was down the hall so fast he almost appeared to be flying. Fred didn't even try to keep up, but instead scanned the nearly barren hallway for something she could use as a weapon.

Angel grabbed the invaders by the shoulders and threw them away from the gaping maw that stood where there used to be a door. Time for finesse later. The first priority was to keep them away from Rose. They didn't take long to recover, however, and they both jumped him.

&&&&&&&

Wesley wrinkled his nose as they went through the kitchen. "What on earth were you cooking, Rose?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted, wrestling with the seldom used lock on the back door. "But whatever it was went poof when I finished..," It suddenly dawned on her. "Macbeth. That wasn't a real spell, was it? I mean, it was just something that sounded good, right?"

"You were reciting the three witches spell while you were cooking?" Wes asked incredulously. "What exactly was it that you said when your cooking.., 'went poof'?"

"'Open locks, whoever knocks'," Rose replied in a small voice. The sluggish mechanism turned in her hands. "Oh my, what did I do?"

"I think you may have guided those hostile hulks outside to your location," he informed her, as she opened the door. "Try not to cast any more.., oh hell."

&&&&&&&

"It seems to me that these guys have a little hearing problem," Gunn remarked to Spike. "Either that, or they just ain't too bright."

"I'm voting not too bright," Spike commented. "Look at the expression around the eyes. Reminds you a little of Angel, doesn't it?"

Gunn laughed despite himself. "We do seem to have a little problem here," he observed. "There's three of them. No way to divide them up evenly."

"Oh I'm sure we can work something out," Spike drawled lazily. At least it sounded that way. His nerves were wound up tighter than a bowstring. "Shall we?"

"I still haven't seen their invitations," Gunn replied. "I think they're trying to gatecrash."

&&&&&&&&

Angel was pummeling on adversary from the front while the second had an arm wrapped around his windpipe. Lucky for him he didn't need it. But it was a little distracting.

Fred came up from behind with a fire extinguisher in her hands. She meant to hit the guy on the back of the head, but she just couldn't reach that far, and it thudded against his shoulder. It did serve to get his attention, though. He turned to look at Fred. She pulled the pin and let him have it with the CO2.

Angel's man was down and unconscious when he got the leisure to check on Fred. These two may have looked human, but they had a lot more fight in them than humans had. Probably from another dimension. As he turned, he saw the second attacker on his knees, white from the contents of the fire extinguisher which Fred brought down on his head with a clang. Two down.

"C'mon, let's check inside," he suggested. Since the front door was a total loss anyway, he finished the job of destruction and pushed his way inside.

&&&&&&&

Rose looked at Wesley in desperation. There were three more men coming down the alley towards them. They couldn't go back the way they had come, and they couldn't go forward. Then, a car came screeching to a halt at an angle in the alley, and Spike and Gunn emerged.

"Looks like the cavalry has arrived," Wes remarked with satisfaction. "Why don't you wait here, Rose?" He shucked his jacket and went up the steps two at a time.

"Glad you could join us, Watcher," Spike remarked. "Is Rose all right?"

"Fine for the moment," he replied. "But there are two more of them trying to break down the front door."

"The boss man probably has that situation in hand," Gunn said. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of waiting."

The two opposing sides met each other in a rush. Rose started feeling dizzy just watching, then realized it was because she was holding her breath. If asked, she would have said that of course she didn't want any harm to come to Wesley or Gunn. But at the moment, she only had eyes for Spike. She wished there was some way that she could help him. A smile crept across her face. Maybe she could. She ducked back into the kitchen.

&&&&&&&&

"Rose?" Angel called out, wading through the displaced furniture. "Rose? Wesley? Is anybody here?"

"In the kitchen," Rose called out. "Wesley is in the alley with Spike and Charles. There are three more of them." Angel walked into the kitchen to see Rose pulling out drawers until she came to the one she wanted. She pulled out a butcher knife and headed for the exit.

"Wait just a minute." Angel relieved her of the weapon. "You stay here with Fred, got it?" Fred had just managed to clamber in over the decayed barricade.

"But..," Rose began.

"Stay here," he ordered. "Fred, make sure she doesn't go anywhere." He looked back at Rose. "Thanks for the knife."

&&&&&&&

Wes, Gunn and Spike were having a hard time of it. The vampire could hold his own, but he kept getting distracted by the fact that his allies were outmatched. He swung a punch at one that took his hand through a freak shaft of sunlight that had somehow managed to penetrate the alley's gloom.

"Sodding hell," he swore, shaking his hand in pain, trying futilely to cool the burning sensation. "Where in the hell is the damn back-up?"

"Right here," Angel replied, vaulting up over the railing surrounding the basement entrance. "You mean you haven't taken these guys down yet?" He flipped the kitchen knife in his hand, testing the heft. It wasn't really meant for throwing, it was balanced all wrong. But you could get around that if you were good enough and had the reflexes for it. With a negligent-seeming toss, he sent it straight into one attackers eye.

"Shit!" Gunn rubbed his ear. The knife had whistled by closely enough to draw a drop of blood. "Watch what you're doing with that thing, man."

"Sorry," Angel apologized, stepping into the fray. With the odds shifted in their favor, the rest of the fight was over fairly quickly.

Almost as the last man went down, two things happened almost simultaneously. One, was Angel pulling out his cell phone and calling for a pick up on the bodies, dead and alive. The other was Rose, shooting like a guided missile from the lower level and straight into Spike's arms.

Spike grunted slightly as she made contact with him. She had a little velocity behind her, and he would admit, under pressure, that he was feeling a bit battered at the moment. "Steady on, babe," he cautioned, while hugging her fiercely despite the aches and pains. "I'm all in one piece, and I'd kind of like to keep it that way." He held her away from him. "What about you?"

"They never got near me," she replied. She belatedly realized that she really should be seeing if any of her other defenders needing tending to. But the worst damage seemed to have been taken from Wesley, who had an eye purpling up and a split lip. And who also was already being attended to by a solicitous Fred.

Angel surveyed the chaos with a sinking feeling. Aside from the fact that Spike and Rose's apartment was currently uninhabitable, this invasion was certain to be only the first one. Rose couldn't be here where they knew where to find her. He slumped against the side of the car, face in his hands. "Why me?" he moaned.

"What in hell's your problem?" Spike demanded, still holding Rose as if he needed constant reassurance that she was still there.

"Go start packing," his grandsire said resignedly. "Whatever you can carry right now. Later, we'll probably have to get it all out of here. After this, you'll almost certainly be evicted."

"What are you chuntering on about?" Spike still hadn't made the connection.

"You have no front door," Angel pointed out. "And someone wants Rose. Someone who has operatives like these guys." He waved his hand at the fallen foemen who were being loaded into vans for transport to the law firm. Fast efficient service. "Do you think that someone is going to stop just because we took out the hired help?"

"Oh piss," Spike said disgustedly. "Not again. I cannot do this again. We'll get a hotel room."

Angel shook his head. "Too exposed and you'd be putting innocent civilians in danger. We'll do it my way." He sighed. "But I sure as hell wish my way didn't mean having you under the same roof with me. Again."

"You and me both," Spike agreed morosely. "Bugger."


	8. Two Vampires Under One Roof

42

Once all the fallen warriors had been carted off, everyone insisted on helping Spike and Rose salvage what they could of their possessions.

"Get what you need," Angel directed. "I'll send someone from the firm to pack up the rest of your stuff."

"Wesley, you should go straight home," Rose said as the Watcher entered the remains of their apartment.

"Don't fuss, Rose," Wesley sighed. "I'm getting enough of that from Fred." And the look he gave Fred suggested that he didn't have a problem with her fussing. "Besides, I was interested in your cooking pot."

"Why on earth would you be interested in that?" Rose looked totally lost. "It's not even any good anymore."

"It's the inside I'm curious about," Wes explained. By now, they'd gotten people's attention, and everyone gathered round. "These etchings on the interior walls look too structured to be random damage. I want to take it in to the office and study it. See what other effects your spell may have created."

Suddenly all eyes turned to Rose, who, small as she was, wished she was a lot smaller. Like maybe microscopic.

"And what sort of spell would that be, sweetheart?" Spike asked casually, draping an arm around her shoulders.

"I didn't mean to," Rose said forlornly. "I didn't know it was a real spell. I was just having a little joke."

"A little joke?" Angel echoed incredulously. "All this happened over a little joke?"

"I guess so." Rose's voice was barely audible now. If a portal had opened at her feet she would have willingly jumped in, even if it led straight to hell.

The silence hung heavy for a few minutes, then Wesley broke into the awkward stillness. "It really isn't her fault," he said. "Not very many people know that Shakespeare was a sorcerer. Damned careless of him using a real spell for a play."

Angel turned away and leaned on the wall, shoulders shaking. Rose was afraid that she'd really made him angry. At least she did until he could no longer keep his laughter silent.

"What the hell's so funny about it, you stupid git?" Spike found it convenient to take out his feelings on Angel, as usual. "She could have been killed by those bastards and you're laughing about it?"

Angel ignored Spike's outburst. One last guffaw and he got the laughter under control. "C'mon Rose," he said. "Let's get your stuff and get you moved into my place." He started out of the room.

Rose began to follow him, then halted, looking from one vampire to the other. "Hey, what about Spike?" Her expression had become totally crestfallen when she'd realized that Angel hadn't included Spike.

Angel turned and shrugged. "I guess it's up to you what of your stuff you want to bring along. Even him." He went on out.

"Bloody wanker," Spike growled. He then sighed. "Still, the pouf has a point, luv. Let's get you the hell out of here."

&&&&&&&

"Kraj!" Once again, Lord M'rek's voice resounded through the caverns.

Kraj entered at full grovel. "My Lord called?" he whined. He wasn't feeling too well at the moment.

"Why has the vessel not yet been delivered into my hands?" demanded M'rek. "You assured me that her position had been located and the team dispatched. Half a day has passed and I still see no sign of the vessel."

"The team has not yet returned," Kraj admitted, head hanging almost to the floor. "The portal has been continuously monitored, but we have not seen them."

"I sent five fully trained warriors and they cannot retrieve one lone female?" Lord M'rek was disbelieving. "Explain to me how this could be, toad."

"Perhaps the vessel has protectors?" the prostrate figure suggested. "Many protectors, if they could best five of your Lordship's finest."

"I like this not, Kraj," M'rek growled. "No doubt they have moved the vessel now. Set the scryers to work. Find the vessel's new location. And this time do not send in a team of warriors. We need something a little less conspicuous."

"I have done some research, Lord," Kraj put forth timorously. "With the help of the mentalists. It would seem that the vessel has some sort of employment in a place that performs services for extra-dimensional employers. We could go in ourselves in the guise of such customers and not call undue attention to ourselves."

"If this place of business owns the vessel, why not buy her outright?" M'rek suggested.

"It is not the custom to own other beings in that dimension," Kraj informed him. "Her services are hired to the place of business by mutual consent."

"How curious," M'rek mused. "Create us a plausible story to explain our presence." He rubbed his hands together. At least this way, he would be able to claim the vessel with his own hands. He went to the front of the room where there stood a large stone throne. Attached to one leg of the throne was a gilded chain that ended in a jeweled collar. Soon, very soon, it would grace the neck of the vessel.

&&&&&&&

Rose was feeling restless. After all the excitement of the day, she simply couldn't sleep. Sneaking out of bed was out of the question, but she was so wide awake that she was going to keep Spike up anyway with her tossing and turning. She slid out of the bed.

"Sweetheart?" Spike didn't need to elucidate, and he was tired. And bruised and battered. He'd taken more damage than anyone but Rose had any notion of, and he had made her promise not to tell.

"I'm just having a little bit of insomnia," Rose whispered, going over to kiss him. "I'm going to go in the other room and see if Angel has anything worth reading. Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"Don't be too long," Spike mumbled into the pillow, dropping back off to sleep.

Once in the other room, however, Rose found that she didn't really feel like reading. Truth to tell, she felt a bit hungry. She went to the kitchen and began rummaging, happy that Angel had immediately upon their arrival sent someone out grocery shopping and thereby avoiding one argument that had been a hallmark of their last sojourn there. At first, nothing appealed, and she was feeling a little wary about trying to cook again. She was hungry, but nothing looked good, until she opened the door to the freezer and saw the little round containers therein. She'd heard about ice cream, but had never gotten around to trying it. She peeled off the top of one container and stuck a finger in a licked it. Her eyes lit up with the light of love. She read the label. Chocolate fudge ripple. She'd have to remember that, for whenever she and Spike were able to go out on their own again. It was very good, but it was such a small container, and was empty before she knew it.. She went back to the freezer. Was butterscotch swirl just as good?

Rose finally crawled back into bed, both tired and sated. She wondered why no one had ever told her about ice cream before. She snuggled against Spike's back. Still half-asleep, he rolled over and wrapped his arms around her.

&&&&&&&&

Angel went to dump out the coffee grounds in the trash and saw the evidence of Rose's midnight snack. "How much ice cream did you have last night, Rose?" he asked. "I don't recall you eating any before we all turned in."

"I couldn't sleep," Rose mumbled. "And I was kind of hungry..," She looked at the pair of them. "How come no one ever told me about ice cream before?"

"You're talking to the wrong crowd, pet," Spike replied. He was crouched over a mug of blood, looking like he still didn't feel one hundred percent. And he didn't, but he'd stake himself before he'd let Angel know that.

Angel was still in shock at how much Rose had consumed. "That's two whole pints of ice cream," he muttered. "How did you manage to eat two whole pints of the stuff?"

Rose shrugged. "I guess you had to be there." She eyed the plate in front of her, a healthy, well-balanced breakfast, that had practically no appeal at the moment. "Is there any more of that chocolate fudge ripple?"

&&&&&&

"Why don't the two of you take the day off?" Angel suggested. Breakfast had taken a while to get through, mainly due to the extensive arguments they had been put to convincing Rose that she couldn't live entirely on ice cream, no matter how good it was. The vampires had been having a tough time of it until Spike had finally put his foot down and declared that he'd throw the lot out if she didn't eat properly.

"I don't need a bloody day off," Spike growled, more for form's sake than anything else.

"I'm fine," Rose added. "And I'm really interested in what that prophecy said that sent Wesley running to the apartment the way he did. If he hadn't gotten there when he had..,"

Spike was scowling. It didn't matter to him that Wes had gotten there first because he had happened to read the prophecy first, or that if he hadn't acted so quickly, Rose might have been spirited off or worse. What rankled was that once again, it had been someone else had rescued her. He didn't know which he would prefer, that he could come to Rose's rescue just once, and make it work, or that she just wouldn't be in a position to need rescuing. Six of one and half a dozen of the other.

"If you're sure," Angel said dubiously. "You had a pretty hectic day yesterday, and from the looks of things you were up half the night binging on ice cream."

"I feel fine," Rose said again. "Really. I'll bet Wesley is already hard at it, and he looked terrible yesterday."

Angel looked at Spike, who was still sulking. "Looks like the ball's in your court, Spike," he remarked. "She's bound and determined to go to work. But I bet she'd change her mind if you didn't go." Just once, he thought, let Spike take a hint just this once.

Spike shook his head. "I'm all in from arguing with her already," he replied. "If we keep this up, she really will chuck me out on my ear."

Angel threw up his hands. "I tried," he said to no one in particular.

&&&&&&&&

"This is just really, really weird, Wesley," Rose muttered. "I know where prophecies come from. I helped make them up. So why don't I remember this one? I'm sure I would have put it in my memories."

"Maybe you weren't allowed to," Wes answered. "But considering what happened yesterday, there's not a doubt in my mind that it refers to you and Spike. And your children."

"I don't much care for the warning, though," Rose grumbled. "I love Angel to death, he's my best friend, but I can't see us staying there until after the babies are born. Or worse still, being stuck there until the children are grown. Does it say anything about someone trying to take them once they're born?"

"Not as yet," the Watcher replied. "But we haven't gotten through the whole thing yet. I don't really think that you're going to have to stay with Angel indefinitely, though. Once we can figure out who wants you and your children, we can take care of the threat, and you and Spike can go back to your normal lives."

"But it does say there are many of them," Rose pointed out. "And many isn't a very particular number. How do we know when we've reached it and neutralized all the threats? I may be scared silly about becoming a mother, but that doesn't mean that I want anything to happen to my babies." The papers in her hands trembled and shook, and Wesley realized that it was because her hands were shaking. He took the sheets of paper from her hands and laid them on the desk, and took her hands in his.

"Rose, I promise that whatever it takes, we'll keep your children from harm," he said softly. "Trust me?"

"Of course I trust you, Wesley," she murmured. Then, she reached up and gently touched his bruised face. "But I'm afraid of what whatever it takes might possibly entail."

"Not to worry," he assured her. "I'm a lot tougher than I look."

&&&&&&&

For once, Spike willingly stuck to his desk. There was a certain amount of mandatory paperwork for a department head, even in his division. His usual mode of operation was to let it sit until the last possible minute, then rush through it so quickly that he often had to redo half of it. Today though, his ribs were aching, he thought he'd broken a couple. Another reason to be happy he wasn't human. With all the broken bones he'd had over the years, not to mention various other injuries, he'd probably have arthritis in every joint. As it was, a couple of days healing and he was generally right as rain.

Right now, he wasn't even doing the paperwork. He was just sitting, staring off into space, thinking. Angel had given them a run-down on the prophecy that had sent the Watcher, and eventually the rest of them running off to Rose's rescue. And truth to tell, he almost felt cheated by it. Despite his qualms about whether or not he'd be a good father, he wanted those children. He wanted them more than he'd ever wanted anything, except their mother. So why did there have to be some silly-assed prophecy mucking things up?

&&&&&&&

"Well?" M'rek looked down his canine nose at the sniveling form of Kraj.

"All is in readiness, Lord," Kraj said in his best placating tones. "But I was unable to secure an immediate appointment no matter what the bribe I offered. And there may be another difficulty."

"I don't want to hear about difficulties, Kraj," M'rek snapped. "I want to hear about results. How dare they keep us waiting?"

"They intend to do a background check upon you, magnificence," Kraj whined. "If they find anything they do not like, they will refuse to accept your custom."

"Then see to it that they find nothing they will not like," Lord M'rek ordered. "Have the scryers divined the vessel's new location?"

"Within the walls of the business itself," the underling murmured. "But, great Lord, I must tell you. The one who runs the business is the first of the souled ones."

"The vessel's protector is the first of the souled ones?" M'rek thumped his fist against a pillar, which shuddered, but held firm.

"And, I have no doubt, the vessel's consort as well," Kraj whimpered. When M'rek was in such an unreasonable temper, he was nearly impossible to deal with. He also tended to bestow vicious and often completely unmerited punishments. He was a firm believer in executing the bearer of bad news.

"Will the vessel be delivered anytime soon?" M'rek asked, suddenly thoughtful.

"I am given to understand that it will be some months yet, Lord." Kraj bowed, touching his forehead to the floor.

"Then we have time to ingratiate ourselves," M'rek mused. "Get back to work, Kraj. Make sure that the souled one finds us acceptable."

"It shall be as my glorious Lord wills it." Kraj shuffled out backwards, bowing and scraping all the while.


	9. And Baby Makes Four

51

Knox held up the bloody butcher knife. "Should we return this?" he asked Fred.

"I'd say a pretty safe bet would be, no," Fred replied, wrinkling her nose. "Would you want to prepare your food with a knife that had been used to kill someone?"

Knox shrugged. He'd been at Wolfram and Hart a while now, and his sensibilities were dulled. Besides, as a scientist, he knew that once the knife was run through a sterilizer there'd be no traces of the recently deceased lingering. The recently deceased now laid out on a table in front of them.

"They sure build them big, wherever he comes from," he remarked, putting the knife aside.

"That's the main reason we're doing an autopsy," Fred reminded him. "To see if we can find out where he came from."

"Are we analyzing the clothing as well?" Knox asked.

"No need to," Fred answered. "Stuff anyone could have picked up at the local Wal-Mart. We do have people searching to see if they can find whatever these guys discarded when they made their change."

"And if they find that, we'll analyze it?" Knox adjusted a light to shine directly on the chest of the corpse.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't hold my breath," Fred said. She pulled a mask over her face and picked up a scalpel. "Are we ready?"

&&&&&&

"Yes, we're running the background check now," Gunn assured the would-be client on the other end of the phone. "It shouldn't take long at all. Yes, I realize that Lord M'rek is a busy person, but there are procedures we have to follow here. I'm sorry about the delay, but it can't be helped."

After he hung up the phone, he sighed and rubbed his ear. If an underling had such a volatile temper, he hated to think what it would be like when they got to the employer. If they did. Background was having some trouble clearing this one. Still better to lose a client than to be on the wrong side. The firm had to turn a profit, true, but Angel was determined to do it without getting their hands dirty. Or at least any dirtier than they already were.

&&&&&&&

"I don't think I've ever seen orange blood in a humanoid before," Knox remarked. "That definitely proves that he's not from around here."

"We were pretty sure about that anyway," Fred commented. "They lasted a lot longer against Angel than ordinary humans would have done." She opened up the body along the incision she'd made. "Wow. I don't think he has any of the same organs we do. At least, not in the same shape and color as ours."

"No kidding," Knox agreed. "Do you want pictures?"

"Yeah, that would probably be a good idea," Fred replied. "There's no telling when or if we'll ever have someone like this on the table again, so we'd better do some thorough documentation."

&&&&&&&

The four remaining warriors were locked up in holding, and without saying a word had made it clear that they were not happy with the situation. Angel was pacing in front of the cells now, and Spike was lounged against a wall, arms crossed, looking as nonchalant as they came.

"Wonder who thought they needed five big, strapping fellas like that just to grab one helpless woman," Spike drawled. "I'd be real interested in finding that out. Wouldn't you too, Peaches?"

Angel sighed. He hadn't heard that particular nickname in a while. He had almost allowed himself the vain hope that Spike had dropped it completely. He should have known better. "We'll find out," he assured Spike. "With or without their help, we'll find out. Of course, with would be quicker."

One of the captives, from the way the others seemed to defer to him, the leader, glared at the vampires defiantly as if daring them to do their worst.

&&&&&&

"Oh my god," Fred gasped. "His tongue has been cut out. And not recently. It's been healed for quite some time. And a neat job was made of it too. Surgical, not out and out brutality. But why?"

"Maybe because the kind of missions this guy went on they figured that the best way to keep him from talking was to make sure he couldn't talk at all," offered Knox. "I wonder if his four friends in holding have had theirs removed too?"

"There's one way to find out," Fred said grimly, removing her gloves and pulling out a cell phone.

&&&&&&&

Angel's cell phone rang. He hated those things. Always interrupting at the most inopportune moment. He pulled it out. "I'm kind of busy now," he started off, without so much as a hello. "What? Some people take security too damned far. I'll check." He walked up the bars of the cell. "Open your mouth," he directed the nearest one, giving him an example in case he didn't understand English. The prisoner complied. "Shit," Angel muttered. "Looks like they're all the same Fred. No one's going to be talking here."

"What was that all about?" asked Spike, who hadn't been paying attention. He'd been thinking of ways to pry information out of the uncooperative sods.

"We're not going to get any information out of them," Angel said in disgust. "Because none of them has a tongue. Nice trick, huh? Make sure that if your operatives get caught they can't spill anything."

Whether the prisoners understood English or not, they did seem to have some idea of what was going on. There were soft eerie chuckles and smug grins.

"I don't like their attitudes," Spike remarked. "Why don't you turn them over to me and I'll let my lads use them for target practice."

"We can't do that, Spike," Angel replied, rolling his eyes. "We're supposed to be the good guys, remember?"

"And they're the bad guys," Spike pointed out. "We take out the bad guys. That's supposed to be what good guys do, isn't it?"

"Can't you ever play by the rules?" Angel asked in exasperation. "One of the rules being that the good guys don't kill prisoners without a good reason."

"They tried to grab Rose and the kids," Spike replied. "That's good enough reason for me." His eyes were tinged with yellow.

"Calm down, Spike," Angel cautioned, placing a hand on his chest, just in case. "We still may be able to find out a few things from these guys, even if they can't talk. And they might have some value as hostages."

"You always were too squeamish," Spike muttered. "Look, dickhead, these boobs aren't worth jack as hostages. If whoever controls them goes to the trouble of cutting their tongues out so they can't talk, then they're not going to be putting themselves out to get them back. This lot is nothing but cannon fodder. Expendable." He shook himself. "And get your sodding hand off me."

Angel frowned. Spike did have a point about the value of their captives as hostages. He would never say so, but Spike's pragmatism sometimes was the perfect balance for his own idealism. And vice versa. But he really hated it when Spike was right.

&&&&&&

"Here you go, Wes." Fred handed him a folder. "Pictures and diagrams and all the details. Everything that forensic science could find out about the guy."

"Thank you, Fred." Wesley took the folder and flipped through it. "Maybe I'd better attend to this on my own." He'd been working with Rose all day, she'd only just stepped out for a moment. "I don't want to subject Rose to these right now."

"How's she holding up?" Fred asked. "She's got all the surprise and confusion of a baby on the way, and then she finds out she's in the middle of a prophecy that makes her a target for the bad guys. A lot of people couldn't deal with that."

"I think Rose can handle a great deal more than most people give her credit for," Wesley replied. "Me included. Must be the masculine stereotype coming to the fore. We see something, or someone small and pretty, and our instincts say that we ought to protect it, or her." The way he was looking at her led Fred to believe that somehow the subject had wandered away from Rose. And at the moment, she didn't really care.

"Is that how you feel?" she asked softly. She let her eyes meet his.

"Some of the time," he admitted.

"What about the rest of the time?" Fred prompted.

"The rest of the time I feel like this," Wes muttered, bending down to kiss her.

Rose was just returning from a trip to the ladies room. The door was ajar, so she started to walk on in. Then she saw what was going on and backed out, quickly and quietly and gently pulled the door shut, smiling all the while. She decided that it was late enough in the day that she could call it quits. She was pretty sure that Wesley wouldn't miss her.

&&&&&&&

"Have the scryers found the vessel's new dwelling?" M'rek demanded.

"No, Lord," Kraj answered miserably. "They have not. They say that there is something obscuring their readings. Perhaps if one of them were actually transported to the city, it might get by enough of the interference to pinpoint the vessel's location again."

"What of this 'law firm'?" M'rek pressed on, ignoring the question. "Why have they not yet accepted our custom?"

"They are checking out our history to see if we meet their standards," Kraj replied with a frown. "I am afraid that acceptance is far from assured at the moment, dread Lord."

"They would dare to deny us?" M'rek's nose went in the air in a disdainful sniff. "A common place of business would refuse to serve me, who rule whole dimensions?"

"The souled one is very particular about who his business serves," Kraj replied at his toadying, whining best. "I have done and will do all that is within my feeble power to facilitate our entrance to the place though, rest assured, my Lord."

"I have faith in you, Kraj," M'rek allowed, then spoiled it by adding. "Or rather let us say that I have faith that you will do whatever you deem necessary to save your own unworthy hide."

"Truly, my Lord." Kraj backed out, bowing.

&&&&&&&&

Since Rose had quit a little early, she had Angel's apartment all to herself for a while. Her first act was to step out of her shoes. No matter what she did anymore, her feet ached. She picked them up and carried them into the bedroom that she shared with Spike. She wanted to get out of her work clothes, too. They weren't feeling as comfortable as they usually did. She looked through her available clothes critically. Spike had made sure that all her new clothes had been brought here. Well, why not? It wasn't as though anyone but Spike and Angel were going to see her tonight, and she felt a sudden desire to wear some of her new clothes anyway. A top that was fairly simply tailored. The only touches that kept it from being utterly dreary were a slight flaring of material at the wrist that just missed being a ruffle, and the soft, rose-pink color. A pair of white slacks. She eyed herself in the mirror. She couldn't tell for sure if it was the clothes or her, but she could swear that she was starting to get fat.

&&&&&&&

Spike and Angel argued all the way up to the penthouse, and so far, neither of them had budged an inch. Spike was all for killing the marauders, and Angel was still holding out for keeping them alive. What he hadn't told Spike was that unless drastic steps were taken, they probably wouldn't be alive for that much longer anyway. None of them would touch any of the food or drink they had been offered since their incarceration.

The argument cut off abruptly at the apartment door, neither one of them wanting to upset Rose. Angel opened the door slowly, not wanting to startle her. No sign of Rose, but her scent was in the air, so she had to be here somewhere.

They found her sprawled out on the sofa, looking even more delicate than usual in the as yet unnecessary maternity clothes. A half-drunk glass of juice on the table beside her. On the floor in front of her, where it had obviously slid off her lap was a book of baby names. Her eyelids fluttered in the throes of a dream.

Angel looked at Spike, who was looking, where else? at Rose. He had to admit that he'd never seen that particular expression on Spike's face before he'd met Rose.

"Poor poppet," Spike murmured fondly. "Wish I could persuade her to chuck in the job for a while. She's wearing herself out with it."

"Maybe it won't be so bad once she gets a little more adjusted to the pregnancy," Angel replied softly. "And you'd better hope that her labor starts in the middle of the night or on a weekend. If it happens while she's working, Wes would probably end up delivering the kids."

Spike looked absolutely aghast at the notion. "I'll have to have a word with her about that," he muttered. "I'm not entirely sure that I trust her doctor, but I'd a sight rather have him doing it than the Watcher." He knelt on the floor beside her, and stroked her cheek gently, and her eyes slowly opened.

"Hello, love, Angel," she greeted them, sitting up. She yawned, trying to wake up. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. I thought I was supposed to be eating for myself and however many babies I'm carrying." She gave Spike a look that said she still wasn't willing to concede his diagnosis was correct. "I didn't think I'd be sleeping for more than one."

"Have you eaten yet, babe?" Spike asked softly, brushing a tousled lock of hair out of her face. Not but what he wouldn't take any excuse to touch her.

Rose shook her head. "I was waiting for the two of you to get back," she replied. "I thought I'd just sit here and look at my book, and I guess I just dropped off."

Angel retrieved the book. "Have you found anything you like yet?" he asked.

"Well..," Rose looked at the book, at Angel and Spike, and giggled. "I guess not."

"You're bloody well not naming one of our kids Liam," Spike said flatly. "I'm not really too keen on William, either."

Rose pouted a bit. "You're no fun," she complained. "And since we don't know yet, we really ought to consider a girl's name too."

"Two of each," Spike said. "I know you're not willing to believe it yet, sweetheart, but there's two of them. And since we don't know if they're boys or girls or one of each, best to be prepared." He leaned his head down to listen. Definitely two infant heartbeats. He wished he had someone to share this with. Rose couldn't have heard it even if she could bend in such an awkward position. Then, he realized that there was someone there to share it with, and that he kind of owed him, much as he hated to admit it. He looked up at Angel. "You want to listen?"

Angel's eyes nearly bugged out of his head at the invitation. He totally approved of the influence that Rose had on Spike, but there were times when a kinder, gentler Spike just threw him for a loop. He joined Spike on the floor, and as Spike moved out of his way, rested his ear against Rose's stomach. A smile spread across his face, hearing the fluttering heartbeat. He concentrated and listened harder. Yes, Spike was right. They were almost in sync with each other, which made it hard to pick out, but there were two of them. He looked up at Rose.

"Two of each, Rose," he advised. "Spike may not be the sharpest pencil in the box, but he does have good ears."

Spike grinned and flipped him off. A perfect little family moment.


	10. Lull Before the Storm

55

Rose had shooed the two males out of the kitchen, insisting on washing her own dishes, since she was the only one with any dirty dishes to speak of. At home, when they had one, Spike had generally dried while she washed, just to spend the time with her. But here, at Angel's it just felt different. She didn't know how or why, but it did.

It didn't take long to do the washing up, and soon Rose had everything put away save for a small baking dish Angel had used to cook her meal in. He seemed to enjoy cooking for her, so she didn't object when he offered. Especially since he was better at it than she was. But where had he gotten that dish? She wracked her memory and came up with a visual. One of the high shelves. Easily accessible to Angel, but out of her reach.

Rose got stubborn. She was not about to call for help to put one little bitty dish away. No way. Wasn't happening. Moving as quietly as she could, she put a chair in front of the cupboard, knowing that if either of the two vampires saw her lifting something that big she'd probably be in for a lecture. But if she slid it across the floor, they'd hear and come running anyway. She was going to show them that pregnant didn't mean disabled.

&&&&&&

Angel lifted his head from the evening paper that he was pretending to read. It made it easier to ignore Spike.

Spike was idly flipping through the book of names, but obviously not putting any real attention into it.

"Did you hear something?" Angel asked, sitting straight up.

"Can't say as I did," Spike muttered. "Hearing voices or some such, ponce?" The insult almost sounded pre-recorded, Spike was so enrapt in his own little world at the moment.

Maybe Spike was right though. It could well be that he was just all keyed up and.., Suddenly his ears caught a startled gasp from the kitchen and he was on his feet and moving.

&&&&&&&&&

Rose tucked the dish away with a feeling of satisfaction. Then, whether she moved too abruptly, or simply had a dizzy spell, even she didn't know. All that she knew was that she was falling, and that she had made a big mistake.

Wondering what the hell was going on, but following his grandsire because he was in such an almighty hurry to reach the kitchen where Rose was, Spike arrived just in time to see Angel catch Rose less than a foot away from the floor.

Rose looked up into Angel's eyes, and at the moment saw nothing there but concern, for which she was profoundly grateful. But when she caught her breath and looked over his shoulder, she saw Spike, and the relief she felt at being saved from her own folly fled. Lecture time with a vengeance, and no getting out of it. She felt a little sick, knowing not only what was coming but that she merited whatever Spike had to say to her. No sense in putting it off, she supposed. Best get it over and done with.

"I'm all right now, Liam, thank you," she said softly to Angel. "You can put me down now."

Angel noticed that her attention was only minimally on him, and even guessed the reason why. Spike must have followed him in and seen him catch Rose. He didn't really want to hear Spike haranguing her, but this was an occasion where he decided, however reluctantly that he'd better not step between the two of them. He carefully sat Rose on the chair she'd been using for a step, gave her cheek a surreptitious caress and left the room.

Rose sat looking at her hands on her lap. Hands that she meant to keep folded, but that kept fidgeting anyway. She couldn't look up, couldn't bear to see the look on Spike's face and know that she had let him down again. And worse, put their children in danger. She didn't deserve to be yelled at, she deserved to be smacked, except that Spike would never do that to her, especially now. But she had a feeling that it would hurt a lot less than having to bear his disapproval. Despite her best intentions, a tear dropped onto her twisting hands, and then another. But she still refused to look up.

When he had seen Angel catch Rose, Spike's heart had gone into his throat. What had Rose been thinking to pull such a dangerous stunt? And while she was pregnant yet? He was torn between sheer, cold terror for the light of his life and their kids, and anger that she would behave so irresponsibly. And that he owed the ponce yet again. When Angel moved past him on his way elsewhere, he stopped him briefly, with a hand on his shoulder, letting his actions say what he couldn't bring himself to with words. And Angel, seeming to understand perhaps more than Spike would have liked, reciprocated the gesture, then continued on.

And yet there sat Rose. Looking small, and helpless and terribly forlorn. She deserved a lecture, most definitely. A sound scolding, maybe with some out and out yelling thrown in. But she looked so contrite, and so alone, that he could feel his resolve wavering. And then, when the little wet droplets fell from her eyes, his heart melted and all he wanted to do was to chase the tears away.

Rose sat in miserable anticipation, wishing that Spike would get on with it, get it over with instead of just letting her sit here and wait. She almost felt that this was worse than any lecture he could give her could possibly feel. Another surreptitious sniffle, another tear falling, then Spike was kneeling in front of her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her as if that was what he was going to do all along. It made Rose feel much better and, conversely, much worse.

"I'm so sorry, love," she managed to choke out. "I know it was a stupid, stupid thing to do. I knew it when I did it, but I did it anyway and..,"

"Hush, sweetheart," Spike soothed, pushing back an errant lock of hair, brushing away the tears. "Just promise me you won't do it again, please."

"I won't," Rose promised, still sniffling.

"Do you think we can manage to turn off the waterworks then?" Spike practically begged. "It breaks my heart to see you cry, luv. Especially since all I want to do is make you happy."

&&&&&&&

It had been quiet out in the kitchen for quite a while now. In fact, it had never gotten loud at all, which was a surprise, since Angel had fully expected Spike to read Rose the riot act. Finally, despite his best intentions, he had to go look, but what he saw was nothing remotely like he anticipated.

Rose was still sitting in the chair, but it was back by the table, where it belonged. Spike occupied another chair, nearby, feeding Rose ice cream as if she was a baby.

"This probably is going to sound stupid," he began. "But just what are you doing?" Despite how quiet it had been, he saw tear-streaks on Rose's face.

"I'm practicing," Spike replied. He dipped the spoon into the ice cream. "Open up for daddy, there's a good girl."

Rose giggled, but complied. When she had swallowed, she remarked, "What are you going to do if they're both boys?"

"Not happening," Spike said firmly. "At least one of them's got to be a girl. A pretty little girl who looks like her mum."

"I don't know," Rose murmured reflectively. "I was sort of hoping for a pair of miniature Spikes, myself."

"That makes one of you," Angel commented. "I think the one you've got is more than enough."

"Feel free to go screw yourself," Spike said reflexively. He dipped the spoon in the ice cream again.

&&&&&&&

A portal opened in the ruins of Spike and Rose's late apartment, and two figures stepped through. One was a wizened old crone, toothless, with skin seamed with wrinkles so deep that they looked as if they were actually painful. The other was the cloaked and hooded figure of Kraj.

Kraj spread a map of the city on the floor in front of the hag. "Get to work," he snapped. "Lord M'rek wants the vessel found with all due haste. Locate her."

The humanoid female dared a glare at the yapping hound before her, but said nothing. She dangled a brilliant, perfect crystal on a string over the map, humming a strange, dissonant tune. The crystal bobbed and spun, but refused to choose a location.

"What ails it?" Kraj demanded. "I was informed that you are the best of his Lordships mentalists, and yet you cannot locate something of such import and presence as the vessel of the new race?"

The old woman shrugged and spread her hands helplessly. She had dodged execution again and again, and was now so old that it really didn't matter to her. A point of personal and professional pride though made the chief slave's words galling. Still she didn't answer. She couldn't. Like all the humanoid persons on M'rek's staff, she had had her tongue cut out at birth. The jackal-like race considered humans and those like them to be inferior breeds and therefore denied them the privilege of speech which was, after all, an attribute of sentient species.

"Try again," Kraj ordered. It wasn't as though he cared about the fate of this lesser being, but Lord M'rek might see her failing as his also, and he still wanted to live.

The ancient rolled her eyes eloquently, but did as she was bid. And with the selfsame results. No location determined.

Kraj barely suppressed a whimper. He fervently hoped that there was good news awaiting him on the progression of the background check that the law firm had insisted on. It might be the only thing that could save him now.

&&&&&&&&

Rose, who had given in to Spike, and now Angel's importunings showed up for work the next day in the height of pre-natal fashion. By the time she had gotten to her office, she was already getting sick of the words 'cute' and 'adorable'. But she had a sneaking suspicion that she was going to hear a lot more of them.

She still got to the office early enough to see Wesley and Fred arrive together, and share a quick, surreptitious kiss good-bye before they went off to their own departments. It gave Rose a little warm glow to see it. Sometimes she felt a bit selfish, being so happy with Spike and having none of their friends able to share in such happiness. She saw Wesley and Fred's romance as a definite step in the right direction.

"Oh, hello, Rose," Wesley muttered, flushing. He didn't think that anyone had been there. "You're here bright and early."

"All I had to do was take the elevator down from the penthouse," she reminded him. "But why are you trying to keep it a secret, Wesley?"

"Keep what a secret?" Wes replied, setting down his briefcase and beginning to shuffle through some papers.

"Fred, you ninny," Rose answered, smiling at the surprised and slightly guilty look he gave her. "I knew yesterday. That's why I took off early. When I came back from the ladies room, you were.., occupied. So I decided to leave you alone."

"Has anyone told you that you look positively adorable in maternity clothes?" he asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"All and sundry till I could scream," Rose responded. "Wesley, you're not ashamed of Fred, are you?"

"Of course not!" It came out before he could think of an evasive reply. He suddenly looked more than a little sheepish. "I guess I am being silly, aren't I?"

"A bit," she conceded. "I think you're allowed to be once in a while. But don't ever be ashamed of love, Wesley. Until I became human, I didn't appreciate how precious a gift it was. Or how rare."

"Point taken," Wesley said. "Now, enough of my personal life and let's get some work done, shall we?"

"Anything you say, boss," Rose said with a giggle.

&&&&&&&&

"You took the seer to the last known location of the vessel and were still unable to find her?" M'rek roared. "I am surrounded by incompetents!"

"It is even as you say, Lord," whined Kraj, feeling sick. This was it. Today he was going to die. Probably slowly and painfully.

"Yet you are fortunate beyond merit," M'rek remarked. "For the morrow will see us in the business wherein the vessel labors. You are spared, Kraj. For the moment."

Kraj heaved a heartfelt sigh. A reprieve. Hopefully the visit to the law firm would prove productive and allow them to capture the vessel.

&&&&&&&&

Wesley handed Rose a stack of papers. "These are the employee evaluations. I want you to do them this quarter." He waited for the outburst, and it came as predicted.

"I thought I was working on the prophecy," Rose protested. "And what about finding out where those men came from?"

"You are officially off the case, Rose," Wesley replied. "And while I heartily approve, it wasn't entirely my idea. I'm operating under orders."

"There's only one person here who gives you orders," Rose mused aloud.

"And you can speak to him this evening after work," Wesley replied. "In the meantime, I'd appreciate you getting to work on those evaluations."

Feeling childish, but unable to resist the impulse, Rose stuck her tongue out at him. And then went into her own office and started on the employee evaluations.


	11. A New Client

58

By the end of the day, Rose was frustrated and working towards furious. Every time she had tried to find out about progress on the prophecy, Wesley handed her yet another administrative chore. She had enough on her desk now to keep her busy for a week. She was either going to have to curb her curiosity or have some serious words with the person who was giving Wes his orders.

Being preoccupied, she rounded a corner and ran right into someone.

"Hey, watch those sharp corners," a friendly voice cautioned. He stopped at looked at who had collided with him. "And I'll watch the soft curves." A sudden smile lit up his face, and he started singing, pulling Rose into a dance step with him. "Just Rosie and me and baby makes three, we're happy in my blue heaven."

Rose giggled, releasing much of her bad mood, even though she'd been enjoying it, in a perverse way. "I thought the name in the song was Mollie, not Rosie," she remarked.

"Artistic license, blossom," Lorne said. "Those pills taking care of the upset tummy?"

Rose nodded. "And by the way, according to doctors Spike and Angel, baby makes four," she informed him.

"When you do something, you do it with style, don't you, Rosebud?" Lorne looked her over. "I must say that it agrees with you though. I've never seen you look more scrumptious."

Rose blushed and said, "Says you. I think I'm starting to get fat already."

"Mommikins, there are some societies that think that a woman looks her absolute best at about eight and a half months gone," Lorne replied. "Personally, I can't wait till you start bulging a bit. You're going to be the hottest dish in the o.b.'s waiting room."

"If I didn't love you, Lorne..," Rose warned.

"Picked out the godparents yet?" Lorne asked hopefully. "Because my calendar is free for you and yours any day, sweetie."

"I'll have to talk it over with Spike, of course," Rose hedged, thinking that she would also have to ask Spike what godparents were. "But I'll certainly mention your name."

Lorne shrugged nonchalantly. "Even if you don't make if official, doll-baby, I hope you know that I'd do anything for you and your two little angels."

"But they're not Angel's," Rose said, missing the point. "They're Spike's."

&&&&&&&

Angel and Spike forgot to stop arguing when they hit the apartment door that night.

"Look you big wuss," Spike remarked with a scowl. "They're going to die anyway unless you go to the bother of force feeding them or some such nonsense. My way, and I know you may have trouble dealing with the concept, is actually more merciful. Not that those wankers deserve any mercy."

Angel sighed. "Spike I cannot condone killing helpless prisoners," he said. "It's a matter of principle."

"Stuff your principles," Spike muttered. "Fat bloody lot of good it's done us. Those sons-of-bitches were going to kidnap or maybe even kill my.., oh, hello, sweetheart, I didn't see you there."

"Obviously not," Rose replied, rising up off the sofa. "Can't you two ever find anything you agree on?"

"You mean like how absolutely adorable you look in those hatching jackets?" Spike teased. His smile was replaced by a look of shock as he neatly (and gently) blocked the punch she threw at him. "Hey, what was that all about?"

"I swore I was going to hit the next person who used that word," Rose said darkly. "I've heard it so many times today that the nausea pills are starting to lose their efficacy."

Spike looked helplessly at Angel, unsure what to do or say.

Angel shrugged. "Don't ask me," he said. "I'm just glad it was you."

Rose turned on Angel. "I have a few words for you anyway," she snapped. "Why did you give Wesley orders to..," She had to stop and think a moment. ".., keep me out of the loop concerning the prophecy?"

Oh boy. Angel had been expecting something like this, but he couldn't say that he was actually prepared for it. Like in having an answer that Rose would accept without biting his head off. He noticed Spike sidling towards the room he and Rose shared. "Where do you think you're going, William?"

"Just thought I'd change out of the work clothes," Spike said, way too nonchalantly. "You know, slip into something more comfortable." There was the ghost of his usual smirk, but he still hadn't stopped moving.

"You're in on this, aren't you?" Rose accused. "Listen, I helped created that damned prophecy, not to mention the fact that it's at least partially about me, and I think I have a right to know what it says."

Spike, looking a little shamefaced, came back to join the other two, and it did not escape Rose's attention that they both were more than an arm's length away from her.

"I don't hear any explanations yet," Rose prompted. She smiled sweetly. "And I intend to make life exceedingly unpleasant, for both of you, until I do."

"She didn't used to have a mean streak like this," Angel remarked to Spike. "What have you done to her?"

"Wasn't me," Spike protested. "I think it may be all the hormones and what-not."

Rose stood there and glared at both of them. "Quit being so.., so.., male, and tell me why I've been excluded from everything."

"Well, it was an 'executive' decision," Spike hemmed. "Out of my league."

"Like you didn't put your two cents worth in," Angel flared. "The way you always do." He saw that Rose was still fuming. "Rose, the decision wasn't made lightly. There has to be a reason that you don't remember that prophecy."

"I don't remember any of them that haven't already happened," Rose replied. "It had to be that way, in case I let something slip. If that's all it is..,"

"It isn't, luv," Spike muttered. "But you've got a lot going on now, and we didn't think you needed the extra worry." He tried testing the waters, as it were and closed the gap between them. When Rose didn't try to hit him again, he made so bold as to put his arms around her, and she snuggled against him the way she usually did.

"I'm still mad at both of you," she mumbled into Spike's shoulder. "When are you going to stop protecting me from everything?"

"Don't see it happening, myself," Spike replied. "I like protecting you, babe. It gives me a reason to get out of bed in the morning."

"I know you're feeling a little overprotected at the moment," Angel offered carefully. "But don't you think it just might be worth it? For your children?" He figured that if playing that card didn't work, then they were well and truly screwed.

An unintelligible murmur came from the region of Spike's shoulder.

"Did you catch any of that?" he asked Spike.

"Oh I caught it all right," Spike answered. He looked down at the chestnut head cuddled against his shoulder. "And you shouldn't be using language like that in front of the kids, pet."

&&&&&&

Kraj fussed over M'rek, making sure that his Lord looked his resplendent best. "Truly you are a magnificent sight, my Lord," he murmured. "The demons will be in utter awe of your splendor."

"And you say that these demons look like the lesser creatures we use for our menial work?" M'rek asked, brushing Kraj aside to admire himself in a mirror.

"Essentially, oh dread Lord," the servant replied. "Not perhaps quite as large as our menials. At least, not all of them. I understand there is more variance of feature."

"Then mayhap we shall actually be able to tell them apart," M'rek remarked. "They all look the same to me. Of course, it should not be too difficult to spot a female preparing to whelp."

"It is still early on in the gestational period," Kraj informed him. "It may not yet be noticeable."

"Were she one of our own kind," M'rek mused. "I would say look to the eyes. There is always a certain glow in the eyes of a pregnant bitch. But the lesser beings may well be lacking in the finer feelings."

"The ruse I have prepared to give us entry will be good until the time of the new race's emergence," Kraj offered, straightening the hem of M'rek's pleated robe. "Ample time to determine which one is the vessel and bring her under your Lordship's most gracious rule. May this humble one ask if your magnificence intends to keep the vessel alive after she has whelped?"

M'rek considered for a moment. "Perhaps," he allowed. "Certainly until the pups are weaned. And perhaps even after that, if she proves to be amusing. Have the scholars yet determined exactly where the vessel originated?"

Kraj shook his head, bowing it nearly to the floor as he did so. "The only mention made of the vessel's origin is that she shall come from beyond worlds. But the prophecy fails to specify which worlds."

"Perhaps because it means all worlds," M'rek supplied. "Have none of you considered that possibility?"

"But what else could there be?" Kraj whined. "If my Lord has wisdom to impart, please enlighten this poor fool that he may better serve you."

"I am not sure myself," M'rek admitted. "But it should give the scholars something to think about. See that they do, Kraj."

"It shall be as you command, dread Lord," Kraj vowed. "Is my Lord now ready to depart to the dimension of the demons to visit this 'law firm'?"

&&&&&&&&

Rose's ruffled feathers had at least for the moment been smoothed down, but every once in a while Angel saw the hint of a sulk when he looked her way during a quiet moment.

Not that there were many quiet moments. After dinner (Angel insisted on helping Rose with the dishes, despite the promise she had made to Spike), they started arguing over names. All three of them. If they were going to have the discussion in front of him, Angel felt free to offer his input.

"Sweetheart, you can't just use names of people we know," Spike argued. "For one thing, we'll have several boys names, and almost none for girls. And while I think the world of Fred, I'm not saddling any kid of mine with Winifred." Seeing the argumentative gleam in Rose's eye, he added, "And please don't even suggest Harmony."

"You're very good at shooting down my ideas," Rose pouted. "But I haven't heard anything constructive from you."

"Cecily's a pretty name," Angel remarked, just to get a rise out of Spike.

"You obnoxious git," Spike snarled. "You are right off the list for godparents."

"That was something I was going to ask you about," said Rose, temporarily sidetracked. "What is a godparent? I know it can't be what it sounds like, but Lorne would like to be one."

Spike groaned. "And probably just about everybody else in this sodding law firm."

"Don't swear in front of the children," Rose admonished sweetly.

&&&&&&&&&&

"I hate these formal affairs," Wesley remarked, tying his tie. "Is that straight, Rose?"

"It is, and you look very nice, Wesley," Rose replied. "And I'm sure that Fred will think so too. Explain to me exactly what we are doing?"

"Wining and dining an important new client," Wesley answered with a grimace. He couldn't believe that he'd once worn a tie as a matter of course. The damn thing felt like a noose around his neck. "Mandatory attendance by all department heads."

"But I'm not a department head," Rose pointed out. "Why do I have to be there?"

"Because Spike is a department head," Wesley said. "And you're the best person to see that he doesn't irretrievably offend the client."

"I think you underestimate Spike sometimes," Rose murmured thoughtfully. "He can be quite diplomatic when the situation calls for it."

"It must just be with you," the Watcher commented. "I have yet to see the slightest hint of diplomacy from Spike myself." He adjusted the tie again.

"Any special instructions?" Rose asked.

"Just keep Spike out of trouble," Wes begged. "If you can manage that, I'll personally put you in for a bonus."

&&&&&&&

M'rek haughtily examined the assembled, humans, they called them here. And of course, the souled one, he ran the business. There were even females present. Demons had strange customs, putting females in positions of power. He allowed the souled one, Angel, was the name, he believed, take him down the line of hirelings and introduce them.

Angel had saved his personal clique for last. "Charles Gunn, our chief attorney," he said. "Winifred Burkle, head of research and development. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, head of research, and Spike," he finished lamely. "In charge of special operations."

M'rek noticed a female standing close to the pale-furred one that had been presented to him last. "What of her?" he asked.

"That's Rose Powers, she's in Mr. Wyndam-Pryce's department," Angel explained. It sounded a little thin, since she wasn't a department head, but how else was he going to introduce her? Spike's main squeeze?

M'rek suffered himself to be removed to the dining table, and found that he was seated far from the female that had for some reason caught his interest. He hoped that that worthless scum, Kraj, hovering near, was taking notes on all the assembled females.

The small talk was tedious in the extreme, for both sides, since the cultural differences were so vast. At last, the meal was over, and the mingling began. M'rek found himself speaking with the researcher. He recognized the scholarly bearing, so perhaps he would have the information M'rek desired.

Wesley noticed the client staring at Rose. "Was there something I could help you with?" he asked politely enough, even though he was rude enough to leave off the title.

M'rek nodded towards Rose. "If my eyes do not deceive me," he murmured. "I believe that bitch is going to whelp, is she not?"

"She is pregnant, yes," Wesley answered slowly. "And if your Lordship will take a little friendly advice, please don't refer to her as a bitch in front of Spike."

"The puny little male that almost never leaves her side?" M'rek's nose went in the air, and he gave a short, barking laugh. "What could such as he do to me?"

"You really wouldn't want to know," Wesley muttered.


	12. Reflections

67

M'rek did not want to show too much interest in the bitch as yet, lest she be the wrong one, though his very bones screamed that she was. But best to proceed cautiously. No hurry. Kraj, the sniveling little worm, had informed him that these humans had an indecently prolonged gestational period.

M'rek beckoned the ever present toady to his side. "Kraj, strike up a conversation with the female," he ordered.

"Upon a particular subject, most glorious M'rek?" Kraj whimpered.

M'rek shook his head. "Merely engage her in small talk," he instructed. "Should she prove to be the vessel, it might well behoove us to have gained her trust beforehand."

"Most excellent thinking, my Lord." Kraj bowed. "I shall attend to it immediately."

&&&&&&&

"Angel, I thought all the division heads were supposed to be here," Rose remarked. Spike had left her in Angel's care, albeit reluctantly, to deal with a call from his department. "So where's Lorne?"

Angel pointed his chin towards M'rek. "His high and mightyness professes an allergy to Pyleans. We had to take the diplomatic approach." Before Angel could elaborate further, or Rose could ask another question, his attention was claimed by someone else who seemed to feel a pressing need to speak to him.

&&&&&&&&&

Spike, now free, saw Rose temporarily on her own, and moved to fill in the gap. He knew the clients were supposed to have checked out alright, but he also knew that someone wanted Rose. Someone besides him. In a crowd like this he didn't want her left alone for a moment.

Spike and Kraj reached Rose nearly simultaneously. Spike's arm automatically went around her waist, and the possessive gesture was not lost on Kraj.

"She belongs to you then?" he asked Spike.

Just in time, Spike remembered Rose's warning to mind his manners, no matter how offensive he found their off-dimension visitors. "In a manner of speaking," he said cautiously. Didn't want to get Rose into a pet either.

Kraj, wanting to ingratiate himself, something he was generally quite good at, forgot the local customs for one disastrous moment. "She's a lovely bitch."

Before Rose could so much as groan, Spike had gone all wrinkly and laid Kraj out on the floor. He was about to pick him up so he could hit him again, but found that he was hampered by Rose clinging to his arm for dear life. And a crowd was starting to gather, including the ponce, making a beeline right for him, and so was the high muckety-muck client.

"What in the hell is going on here?" Angel sounded pissed off and then some, but his glare was evenly divided between Rose and Spike. She was supposed to be keeping his grandchilde out of trouble.

Spike glared back. "Sodding bastard called Rose a bitch," he snarled. "Clients or no, I'm not putting up with that."

"My servant has given offense?" M'rek asked mildly.

"Bloody well right he did," Spike snapped. Rose was still tugging on his arm, trying to pull him back away from the canine-like demons.

"Spike, he didn't mean anything by it," Rose said. She gave up pulling at him, useless anyway, he stood there like a rock. "It doesn't mean any more than it would if Angel called me a woman. Cultural differences, love."

Spike had a sinking sensation in his gut, one of those little 'oh shit' moments when one realizes that one has truly gone and put one's foot in it. "Oh bugger," he muttered.

"My fault entirely," soothed Kraj, rising and wiping the blood away from his muzzle with a paw. "I completely forgot the cultural context myself. It was never in my mind to insult your female in any way."

"You are a bumbling incompetent, Kraj," M'rek remarked. He turned to Angel. "My sincere apologies for this unfortunate incident. If you like, I will have the hide flogged from his miserable body."

"I think he's already more than paid for his mistake," Angel replied. "And unlike some people, he at least had the manners to apologize." He gave Spike another dirty look. "Do something about your face, Spike, some people might actually be scared by it."

&&&&&&&&

"Covered myself with glory on that one didn't I, luv?" Spike asked ruefully as they made their way back to the apartment. They had been excused early, ostensibly on account of Rose's delicate condition, but it was plain as day to Spike why they were being sent off. Because he'd screwed up royally.

"All in a good cause," Rose murmured comfortingly. "My lovely white knight charging in to save my virtue."

Spike grinned. She had every right to be mad at him. After she'd given him that careful lecture on minding what he said and did, and then he went flying off the handle at the first opportunity, and she not only wasn't ticked off, she actually seemed to be proud of him. Didn't know what he'd done to deserve her, but he was damned glad that he had her.

"I'm afraid," Rose went on. "That Angel isn't going to see it that way."

"Yeah, I doubt if he's going to give me a pat on the back," Spike remarked. "Probably give me the sack for sure, this time. Whatever else I did, I never hit a client before."

"Actually, the client's servant," Rose corrected. "I don't think Angel will fire you, darling. But I do think he's going to yell."

&&&&&&&

Rose's words were prophetic. Angel had barely gotten in the door when the yelling began.

"Of all the stupid, immature stunts you've ever pulled, Spike, that has just got to take the cake," Angel fumed. "I can't believe that even you were dumb enough to hit a client."

"The client's servant," Rose said, jumping to Spike's defense.

"It might just as well have been the client." Angel was pacing now, acting like he really wanted to hit something. Or someone. "You could have cost us a client. Or a hell of a lot more. Do you realize that there are a lot of cultures that would have demanded your life for an insult like that?"

"And if it wasn't for me and Rose being bound together, you would have been happy to dust me on the spot, wouldn't you?" Spike snapped back. "It's not like dog-boy was narked about it. He even apologized for it."

Rose started to open her mouth to say something else on Spike's behalf, but Angel beat her to the punch. "You." He pointed a finger at her. "Out." He realized that was a little harsh, so he added. "Please go in the other room, Rose. Spike and I need to talk about this. Without you."

Rose looked a little miffed. Angel had never spoken to her like that before. Not ever. She was about to protest, but one look at the expression on Angel's face convinced her to do as he said.

"Now that you don't have Rose's skirts to hide behind," Angel began again. "Maybe we can talk."

"I wasn't hiding behind Rose's skirts, you pompous git," Spike growled. "Gets up your nose that she defends me, doesn't it?"

"It does when you were in the wrong." Angel was no longer yelling. In fact, he was suddenly the epitome of calm. And for some reason that gave Spike a cold chill in all the wrong places.

"I reacted without thinking," Spike started in, then realized that was the problem. "Oh piss."

"Spike, protecting Rose is one thing," Angel remarked quietly. "I'd never have a problem with that. But what you just admitted to, acting without thinking, that has got to stop. It's time to stop being a boy and start acting like a man. A man with responsibilities, like a family on the way."

"You going to boot me out?" Spike asked. He might grumble and growl about it, but deep inside, he thought Angel would be entirely justified if he did so.

"No," Angel said. "Not this time. But I can't keep risking the firm's reputation for your temper. I'm bending over backwards here, because you do have responsibilities, and I can't see you managing to hold down a job anywhere else. So basically, I'm doing it for Rose."

Spike remained silent. There really didn't seem to be a hell of a lot to say. As bitter a pill as it was for him to swallow, Angel was right. He just hoped that Angel was finished. He wasn't.

"Spike, there are other cultures that would have demanded the life of your firstborn to pay for the insult," Angel commented softly. "You might want to think about that the next time you take offense at something someone says."

&&&&&&&

"Rose, you know I'm not going to tell you anything about the prophecy," Wesley said. "And I know that you can handle the administrative chores without me looking over your shoulder, so why are you here?"

"I wanted to know if you ever did anything about that cooking pot," Rose mumbled, a little shamefaced. It still embarrassed her no end that she'd cast such a dangerous spell, even if she hadn't known it was a spell.

"It was etched with a sigil that would have acted like a homing beacon," the Watcher replied. "I've since had it destroyed. I didn't want who or what was after you finding you again."

"Thank you, Wesley," Rose said quietly. "I just wanted to know, that's all."

"I know it's hard not knowing what's going on, Rose," Wesley said placatingly. "But not to put too fine a point on it, we don't want you worrying yourself into a miscarriage." She still didn't seem to be perking up at all, or even acting like any of it was filtering through. "What's wrong?"

"I was watching the news on t.v. last night," Rose muttered. "Here I am, with people all around me who want nothing more than to keep me safe and sound, and on the news I saw a man who beat his pregnant wife to death. He killed his wife and child with his own hands, and didn't even show the slightest sign of remorse. And this is the world that Spike died to save?"

"For all the terrible events like that, there are others that are just as good," Wesley said quietly. "But people want sensationalism, so the good things get lost in the shuffle and the stories like the one you saw are the ones that they're watching. It isn't right, but that's the way things are."

"I realize that, Wesley," Rose said. "Maybe it's just that I didn't understand just how protected I am. So protected that I'm out of touch with the world I'm living in now. The world that I'm going to have to try to teach my children to live in."

"I'm certain every parent to be has similar concerns, Rose," he remarked. "You're not alone. And when you start getting down like this, you might want to remember that. You're not alone." This time, the light started to return to her eyes, but just for good measure he added. "And you might want to skip the news for a while, Rose."

&&&&&&&&

"It was a mistake of the highest magnitude, slug. What have you to say for yourself?" M'rek was at his haughtiest.

"Oh magnificence, I fully agree that I acted foolishly, but I believe that we have confirmed that the female is the vessel of the prophecy," Kraj sniveled, prostrating himself.

"And what of the encounter led you to that conclusion?" his Lord demanded.

"The male is a vampire," Kraj pointed out carefully. "The only way he could have impregnated her would be if he was the instrument of the prophecy. He must be the other souled one."

"You may have a point, Kraj," M'rek admitted grudgingly. "And for confirming that she is indeed the vessel, I shall allow you to live a little longer."

"A most undeserved honor that I shall do my humble best to merit," Kraj whined.

&&&&&&&&&

Spike stopped the car in front of the entrance to the office building. Somewhere around them, there were other cars with some of his lads in them, keeping an eye on the both of them, but most especially Rose. Angel had insisted on them having a full escort for the trip to the doctor's office. It was the first time either of them had been out of the complex that housed Wolfram and Hart for nearly a month. "You run along in, pet," he directed her. "They'll probably keep you waiting anyway. I'll get the car parked and join you."

"I could have walked across the parking garage with you," Rose answered. She was still a little fractious about the excessive solicitude.

Spike sighed. Ever since she'd been pregnant, it seemed like Rose had to argue with him over every slightest little thing. And he had six more months of this to go through? "Just go on in, sweetheart," he pleaded. "You won't even have time to miss me."

This time, Rose complied. She got signed in and resigned herself to a wait. There were three or four other women in the waiting room in various stages of pregnancy, and she scrutinized each one while trying to pretend that she wasn't staring. Then, the woman next to her decided to strike up a conversation.

"Is this your first?" she asked.

"Yes," Rose admitted. "How can you tell?"

"You're in maternity clothes and you don't need them yet," the other woman said with a laugh. "Wait till the third time around. You need them sooner, but by then you don't want to wear them."

Rose decided that it was probably best not to go into reasons why she thought that this would be the only time it would happen to her. "You already have two children?" she inquired politely.

The woman nodded. "My mother takes care of them when I have a doctor's appointment," she confided. "It's the only way I get a little peace from the little terrors."

Across the room, two other women were also having a conversation, although not nearly so friendly.

"I'm betting a rich man's mistress," said the hard done by thirtysomething brunette.

"Upper class business man's wife," argued the other female. Her hair was red, but it was a shade that had definitely never had anything to do with nature. "She does have a ring on."

The brunette sniffed. "Anyone can go into a jewelry store and buy a ring. She probably drove here in a BMW, and has a closet full of clothes, a jewelry box full of expensive little baubles, and all for just laying on her back."

The pseudo-redhead shook her head. "She keeps looking at the door, which means that she's waiting for someone. And men don't generally go to the o.b.'s office with their piece on the side." She giggled meanly. "But I'd be willing to bet that he's bald, fat and on the wrong side of forty. Maybe even fifty."

"A trophy wife?" asked the brunette. "Well, maybe. We'll just have to see what comes walking in the door."

As if summoned, the door opened to admit Spike, who headed towards Rose like she was his lodestone.

"See," he said. "I wasn't long at all, was I, luv?"

The brunette and redhead both took a long look at Spike. The leather duster, the bleached blond hair, the chiseled good looks and the less than posh British accent. It all added up to one thing as far as they were concerned. "Rock star," they whispered in unison.


	13. Rose Red

73

"Ms. Powers, come right on in." The nurse looked a little askance at Spike, taking in the details that the two busybodies had noticed. "And this is Mr. Powers?"

Rose looked at Spike helplessly. At Wolfram and Hart, everybody knew the situation. She'd never heard a last name for Spike, as he'd long since dropped the one he'd been born with.

"Close enough," Spike agreed. He hadn't thought about it either, but decided that it wasn't worth causing a row about.

"Did you bring along your specimen?" the nurse asked Rose.

Rose, with a look of supreme distaste handed her the small plastic container with her urine sample, wrapped in about half a dozen plastic bags. She thought it was completely disgusting, but since she didn't know the whys and wherefores, didn't argue.

They got to the examining room and she handed Rose a gown. "Perhaps you'd like to wait out in the hall while she changes, sir?"

Spike looked amused. "I'm the one that got her pregnant," he pointed out. "Think she's got anything I haven't already seen?"

The nurse bristled. She wasn't used to dealing with anyone like Spike. Usually when a father to be came in, he followed her polite suggestions as if they were orders from on high.

Even though Spike stayed out of the way without comment while the nurse attended to the routine tasks of taking Rose's vitals, the temperature in the room dropped perceptibly.

When Dr. Pratt arrived, he entered a little warily. Evidently the nurse had given him an earful concerning Spike.

"Are the pills taking care of the nausea for you?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," Rose replied. "I feel ever so much better."

"Sticking to the diet I gave you?" he went on.

"Pretty much," she answered slowly, and shot a glare at Spike's smirk. The diet wasn't so much a diet as a set of guidelines. Rose just interpreted the terms a little liberally upon occasion. Especially in regards to ice cream.

Pratt glanced at her chart. "Your blood pressure is up a little bit from last month."

"It's been a kind of hectic month at work," Rose muttered.

"If it goes up any higher, I'm going to have to put restrictions on you," he warned. "Too much stress is bad for your baby."

"Babies," Spike corrected him. "There's definitely two heartbeats."

"And I suppose your crystal ball told you that?" Pratt remarked in amusement.

"From listening, you nit." Spike wasn't getting overheated yet, but he was ready, willing and able.

"You have your own stethoscope?" Pratt was starting to long for the good old days when the patients left the medical matters to the doctors.

"I've got very good ears," Spike mumbled. If Rose hadn't already come here once, he'd have tried talking her into going to the medical staff at Wolfram and Hart. At least they wouldn't boggle about him being a vampire.

The doctor glanced at Spike lounging against the far wall of the small room. Dealing with expectant fathers as long as he had, he'd perfected the technique of discreet communications with the mother. "Your young man is letting his imagination run away with him," he said to Rose in tones no human could have heard from Spike's position. "There's no way he could have heard the baby's heartbeat unaided. It was probably just tummy gurgles."

"I know the difference between a gut rumble and a heartbeat, doc," Spike commented. "But since you don't believe me, why don't you take a listen for yourself?"

Pratt started. He had carried on uncounted numbers of such conversations with expectant mothers, and never once had the father heard him. "I was just about to," he muttered. He placed his stethoscope on Rose's stomach. He moved it around a few times, frowning. "I can't really say one way or another," he said. "If there are two of them, they are so nearly synchronous that it's impossible to tell." He gave Spike a hard look as if daring him to disagree. "And that's with a stethoscope, young man. There is no way you could tell with unaided human hearing, no matter how good your ears are."

Spike shrugged. There was no way to explain without telling the good doctor things he wouldn't believe and would probably rather not know if he did. "Have it your way, doc," he replied easily. "You'll see I'm right. When do you do one of those whatayacallem, picture things? When you can actually see the babies inside her stomach?"

"We don't do the ultrasound until the fifth month," Pratt replied. "So you're going to have to wait a while longer, I'm afraid. Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

"Now that you mention it." Spike pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. He'd had so many questions piling up that he'd written them down just in case he forgot something. "First off, are you sure that it's all right for us to have sex?"

&&&&&&&

"That was enlightening," Spike remarked as they headed back for the law firm. "I'm glad I went along."

"I'm not," Rose muttered sulkily. "You embarrassed me to death. From now on, I'm going alone."

"You're not going anywhere alone until we find out who's trying to get his hands on you, luv," Spike disagreed. "And besides, I'd kind of like to know what's going on with you and the kids." He reached over and patted her stomach gently.

"You could sit in the waiting room," she suggested hopefully.

"And listen to all the gossiping cats speculating as to whether we're married or I'm just your sugar daddy?" Spike inquired. "No dice, babe. If it's about all those questions I asked, well, I do have a certain amount of interest in how you're doing."

"I think the doctor thinks you're nuts," Rose groused. "And I'm not sure that I don't agree with him. Should I be picking up clothes, your clothes, I might add, off the floor? Should I be picking up my briefcase? Should I be sitting so much? Standing? Laying down? I'm surprised that you didn't ask him for a schedule with every minute of my day mapped out including trips to the bathroom."

"I'm just trying to take care of you, sweetheart," Spike mumbled meekly. "I only want what's best for you and our kids."

Rose sighed. Six more months of this? She didn't know how she was going to get through it.

&&&&&&&

Angel was headed back to his office from a meeting with Wesley when Rose returned. "How did the doctor's visit go, Rose?" he asked.

Rose just barely managed not to glare at him. "If you have any stakes laying around the apartment, I'd suggest that you get rid of them," she growled. "Or, at the very least, find something very urgent for Spike to do the next time I have a doctor's appointment. I must have been out of my mind to invite him to come along."

Angel closed his eyes, visualizing the worst. "How badly is the doctor hurt?" he inquired.

"He didn't do anything to the doctor, this time," Rose muttered. "Except make a royal pain of himself and embarrass me almost to tears. I can't believe all the stupid questions that he asked that poor man." She colored thinking that Dr. Pratt's assurances that they could have sex weren't enough for Spike, he'd had to ask about various positions, in explicit detail. She wondered if she could or should change o.b.s right now. She wasn't sure that she could face him again after today's session.

Angel knew it would probably piss Rose off, but he couldn't help laughing. "He's just trying to take care of you the best way he can," he said, trying and failing to control his mirth. "It couldn't have been that bad, could it?"

The hallway wasn't entirely empty, so Rose motioned him into her office. Still beet-red, she quoted one of Spike's x-rated questions to the doctor, eyes firmly on the wall past Angel's left shoulder. There was no way she could repeat that question while looking him in the eye.

Angel's eyes grew wide. "He asked the doctor that?"

"That was actually one of the least embarrassing ones," Rose mumbled. "Liam, I do appreciate the fact that Spike is doing all this because he loves me and wants what's best for me and our children but he's..,"

"Going off the deep end," he finished for her. "Do you want me to talk to him?" Angel tried to remember what life had been like when he hadn't been a go-between for Rose and Spike. It seemed so long ago.

"If I thought you'd have any better luck than I did," she remarked. "I'd say please, I'd even beg on bended knee, which, by the way, is all right for me to do. But I don't think he's in a listening mood right now."

Angel rolled his eyes. "Where Spike is concerned, that's a given," he replied. "But maybe I can find a way to get his attention."

"If you can actually get through to him, I'll be forever in your debt," Rose said fervently.

"Just see if you can get me back on the godparents list." Angel winked at her and left.

&&&&&&&

Spike was surprised, and not entirely pleased to see Angel enter what he thought of as his domain. Soul or not, vampires still tended to be very territorial. "To what do we owe the honor of your nancy-boy presence?" he asked at his obnoxious best. Always stick with your strengths.

Angel shed his suit jacket. "I've been feeling a little cooped up in the office," he replied. Well, that at least, was no lie. "Thought I'd work a few kinks out. Join me in showing your guys how it's done?"

Spike's eyes lit up. An opportunity to pound on the ponce and with his permission yet? And here he'd thought his day couldn't get any better. "Long as you don't mind letting the lads see you get your candy-ass kicked," he replied.

"Give me your best shot," Angel said. That was all it took for Spike to come at him.

It really didn't last as long as it seemed to the men watching them, and not nearly as long as it seemed to Spike. He did get in a few shots, true, but almost every move he made, it seemed that Angel was ready for it.

Angel had Spike pinned to the floor. "Have I got your undivided attention now?" he asked.

"What?" Spike hadn't thought of it as attention getting, more like ass-kicking with the wrong ass getting kicked.

"Your attention." Angel spoke slowly, enunciating with precision. "Do I have it?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Spike was willing to make a few concessions at this point. He could always tell the men that it had been staged or something. Sure as hell wasn't going to let them think the pouf could knock the stuffings out of him at will.

Angel looked up at the ops men, staring at the scene, goggle-eyed. "Why don't you guys go take a break or something?" he suggested, and the men melted away like fog being hit by the rays of the rising sun.

As soon as the men were gone, Angel got off Spike, stood and kicked him in the ribs for good measure. "Are you out of your mind?" he asked. "I cannot believe that you humiliated Rose like that."

"I did what?" Spike got to his feet carefully, the only reason he wasn't hugging himself, trying to soothe the pain in his ribs was sheer grandstanding. "What in bloody hell are you on about now?"

"If anyone ought to be getting down on bended knees," Angel growled. "And I really do not want to know why you asked the doctor that, it ought to be you, begging Rose to forgive you for making an ass out of yourself and embarrassing her."

The light was slowly beginning to dawn on Spike. "How much did Rose tell you?" he asked, trying to assess how bad the damage was.

"Enough to give me a few visuals that are really going to haunt me for a while," Angel replied. "But probably nowhere near as bad as what that obstetrician is going to have to live with."

If vampires could blush, Spike almost certainly would have done so then. Okay, so maybe Angel knew more about their love-life than either of them was comfortable with, seeing how much time he and Rose spent in his spare room. But guessing and knowing are two different things. "I'm just trying to take care of her and the babies," he muttered. "What's it to you, ponce?"

"In case you hadn't noticed," Angel snapped. "The two of you happen to be living under the same roof with me at the moment. I wouldn't mind a little bit of peace and quiet from time to time. Which I don't see happening when Rose is so pissed at you that she said that I ought to get rid of any stakes I may have laying around the place."

Spike's eyes widened. "Rose said that?" He'd known she was a bit put out, and she had been a little moody of late, but he'd never dreamed that she was that irate.

"She did," Angel replied grimly. "If I were you, Spike, right now I'd be thinking just what I could do by way of an apology. A very major apology."

"With you sitting there watching the whole thing and enjoying every minute of it, no doubt," Spike grumbled. "I'll admit that maybe I crossed the line a bit. But not enough to put on a show for you."

"I'm going out tonight," Angel informed him. "I probably won't be back till around midnight. You'll have the place all to yourselves." He started towards the door, but turned for one last bit of advice. "Spike? You'd better make it damned good."

"No shit," Spike muttered as he watched Angel's departure. "Oh sodding hell."

&&&&&&&&

"What is your next plan of action to secure me the vessel?" M'rek asked his servant.

"I have documents to deliver to the law firm," Kraj said at his obsequious best. "With your permission, my Lord, I shall take one of the diviners with me to make the confirmation that she is the vessel absolute. If I cannot get near the female any other way on legitimate business, I can always ask to see her on the grounds that I would like to apologize again."

"Perhaps you should take her a gift," M'rek suggested. "Some decorative little bauble, say, a piece of jewelry. Have a locator spell put on it before you give it to her."

"A truly inspired idea, oh glorious Lord," Kraj replied, fawning at his feet. "Then, she shall be there for the taking."

"Tell her also that by our customs she must keep it upon her person," M'rek added. "As proof that she truly forgives your insolence."

"As my Lord so commands." Kraj bowed and went out.


	14. With Deepest Apologies

79

Rose's feet were dragging a bit as she made her way to the penthouse. She still wasn't sure if she'd calmed down enough to face Spike. Not to mention Angel. What had prompted her to tell him that? But she knew what had. That visit to the doctor's office, which would have been her last if you could actually die of embarrassment.

When she opened the door, though, the sight which greeted her was not the scene to which she was accustomed. The curtains were drawn, and the whole place was illuminated by candlelight. There was a scent of roses in the air, and she felt a stab of dismay. Did Angel have romantic plans tonight and she'd missed the information? Surely not, she decided. Angel wouldn't evict them even for just the evening when her safety was the whole reason they were here. So what was going on?

Spike emerged from the kitchen, sucking on burnt fingers. He'd stood back to admire his handiwork for a minute, forgetting that he'd still had a lit match in his hand. All of which went completely out of his mind when he saw Rose standing in the doorway taking in the candlelit scene.

Rose had just stopped in her tracks, taking it all in. She was barely aware of Spike closing the door, taking her briefcase, even removing her shoes. It finally registered on her when he took her in his arms for a long, slow kiss.

Eventually, Spike let her come up for air. "Spike, what is all this? And where's Angel?"

"The ponce is out for the evening," he informed her. "And this is me apologizing for making a horse's ass of myself and embarrassing the most beautiful woman in the world and the best thing that ever happened to me."

Rose's eyes misted up. "Spike darling, you didn't have to do all this," she murmured.

"Oh yes I did, pet," he argued gently, kissing her again. "I most certainly did."

&&&&&&&&

As apologies go, it rated full marks. Spike had put a lot of thought and effort into it. Dinner, which no matter what it is tends to take on a romantic tone when eaten by candlelight. A long, hot bath with plenty of bubbles and Spike washing her back and feeding her ice cream. And when they'd retired for a leisurely love-making session, Rose found the he had scattered rose petals between the sheets of the bed. By the time the evening was over and she was drifting off to sleep in Spike's arms, Rose was wondering vaguely how she could have been angry with Spike in the first place.

Angel cautiously let himself into his apartment. It seemed quiet enough. Good, he really didn't want to walk in on Spike and Rose doing the nasty. He flipped on a light and started extinguishing the guttering candles. Spike always did have a thing about candles. But it was still a lucky thing that he hadn't managed to burn the place down.

Spike was drifting off in a contented haze when it occurred to him that he'd better put out the candles. Rose was sound asleep, no worry about waking her. He started dowsing the flickering lights, then, as an afterthought, picked up their discarded clothes from the floor. He'd gotten to the bathroom when he heard a sound in the outer room. The ponce must be back. Spike would have been happy to not see him, but his eyes lit on the empty ice cream container and spoon. Had to dispose of one and wash the other. For Rose. Not much of an apology if she spent the better part of the next day cleaning up after it. With a sigh, he dragged on a pair of pants, and headed out.

"Did you put the rest of the candles out?" Angel asked. "And what's that stuff stuck all over you? You look like you've got a disease."

"Yes, I did," Spike answered the first question without breaking stride. As for the second question, he looked down at his bare chest and saw that there were bits of vegetation sticking to him. "Oh, just a few rose petals, that's all." He retreated into the kitchen, hoping the question and answer session was over.

Angel followed him into the kitchen. "They're on your back too," he observed. "Are you all squared away with Rose?"

"Until the next time I put my foot in it," Spike mumbled. Why couldn't the silly git take a bloody hint and push off?

Besides the rose petals, Angel noticed a large blue-black bruise on Spike's side and winced a bit. "Hey Spike, I'm sorry about that." He waved his hand, indicating the discoloration on Spike's ribcage. "I didn't mean to use quite that much force."

Spike shrugged uncomfortably. Having Angel apologize to him was a just a little weird. "I'll heal," he muttered indifferently. "Seems I was due for a good ass-kicking anyway."

"You know I'm always available for that," Angel assured him with a grin. But the grin was a little forced. Spike was being just a little too humble for his peace of mind.

Spike had had enough of wallowing in it. "Why don't you just go bugger yourself, you bloody wanker?"

Angel felt a genuine grin spread across his face. That was the Spike he knew and depended on. A universal constant.

&&&&&&&&

"When do you depart, Kraj?" M'rek was pacing about the elaborately decorated chamber.

"As soon as your most gracious Lordship imparts any last minute instructions and words of wisdom." Kraj groveled at his feet.

"When you gift the vessel with the trinket," M'rek ordered. "Give her this as well." This, was an overly ornamented and embossed envelope bearing M'rek's personal seal.

"Might this lowly one dare to inquire as to the contents of this missive?" Kraj suggested timidly.

"An invitation to avail herself and her consort of my hospitality," M'rek replied haughtily. "Added to your apology and the gift you bear, it should convince them that we have no untoward intentions."

Kraj considered a moment. M'rek was operating at a level that he had previously thought far beyond the scope of his Lord's intelligence. Perhaps he had underestimated M'rek. "Truly, Lord, your wisdom is a wonder to behold," he murmured in awed tones that weren't entirely part of the act. "Have I then your most gracious permission to make my departure?"

"You may leave," M'rek allowed. "First we will secure the vessel's trust, then the vessel herself."

"It shall be as my Lord commands." Kraj began bowing his way out of the room.

"Oh, Kraj," M'rek added as an afterthought.

"My Lord?" Kraj halted in his tracks.

"Find out what name the demons have for the vessel and her consort," M'rek said. "Then, mayhap, we can avoid another such scene as your incompetence caused on our visit."

"Your will is my pleasure, oh mighty M'rek," Kraj whined as he made his exit.

&&&&&&&

Rose was diligently typing out reports when Wesley came in to dump more papers on her desk, just like the days when she'd first come to Wolfram and Hart. "What's all this?" she asked suspiciously. She'd stopped asking about the prophecy, so it couldn't be that. Or had he merely been neglecting the routine part of the job and was now using the opportunity to catch it up?

"Evidently, they're your insurance forms," the Watcher replied. "Gunn was bringing them from personnel for you and I volunteered to finished the errand."

"All those?" Rose was aghast at the stack of paperwork. "I have to go through all that?"

"I think Gunn made sure that they were all filled out," Wesley said soothingly. "I believe he said that all you had to do is sign them." He looked down at the top of her head from, where else, his perch on the corner of her desk. "What on earth is that in your hair, Rose?"

"Where?" Rose reached up a groping hand in entirely the wrong place.

"Allow me." Wesley delicately plucked the foreign object from her chestnut locks and examine it. "It appears to be a rose petal. But how did it get in your hair?"

Rose blushed redder than the flower petal in Wes' hand. "If you don't mind, Wesley," she murmured. "I believe that information is on a need to know basis."

He caught the implications and silently cursed himself that he hadn't picked up on it sooner. "And I definitely do not need to know," he muttered, flushing a bit himself. He gave himself a mental shake. "As soon as you've signed all those forms, take them straight to personnel so that they can get them processed. And by the way, are you finished with the quarterly budget?"

&&&&&&&

"Well, the information you gave me will be enough to get the ball rolling," Gunn remarked, flipping through some papers. "I'll be sure to keep your employer informed on the developments."

"You are most kind." Kraj extricated his bulk from the chair in front of the lawyer's desk. The furnishings were all human-sized and not accommodating for his kind. "Might I make so bold as to ask a personal favor, Mr. Gunn?"

"Ask away," Gunn replied, a little cautiously. Damn sure not going to make any promises until he knew what the favor was.

"I should like to see the young lady that I so inadvertently insulted at our initial meeting," Kraj murmured in tones so smooth they were almost palpably slimy. "I should like to give her a small token by way of an apology."

Gunn didn't like the guy, but he didn't see any real grounds for refusing his request. "Sure, I can take you to her office myself." He rose from behind his desk.

"I appreciate it greatly, sir." Kraj handed the portfolio in his hands to the female who had been patiently standing behind him. The diviner had been instructed to act as body servant to him as a cover story. "Lord M'rek was most put out with my social clumsiness."

"Yeah, I heard him offer to flog your hide off," Gunn commented. "Was that just exaggeration, or did he mean that literally?"

"His Lordship demands the highest standards of service," Kraj replied. "And exacts the highest retribution if those standards fail to be met."

&&&&&&&

Rose signed the last insurance form. She still failed to understand why every action required an opposing avalanche of paperwork. She wondered idly if it was something that she didn't understand because she'd been human for so short a time, or whether bureaucrats and paperwork were another sub-category entirely. Her musings were interrupted by a knock on her door. "Come in," she called. This was an unusual occurrence. Most people just barged in without knocking.

Gunn came in followed by the servant of the Anubis-like new client, who was in turn followed by a human-looking woman. "Hello, Rose," Gunn greeted her. "Kraj here wanted to see you." He looked at the stack of papers she was shuffling. "Are those your insurance forms?"

"Yes, they are," she replied. "Would you make sure that I've signed everywhere I should, Charles?"

"No problem." He took the papers and went off by himself a small way and starting sorting through the papers.

Rose's attention turned to Kraj. "May I help you?" she asked a bit nervously. She didn't know whether or not it was their appearance, or just their sheer size, but she found the jackal-like demons a little intimidating.

"I would find it most helpful if you would accept this small gift as a token of my most profound apologies," Kraj oozed. "It is a custom among my people to apologize thus. If you accept my apology, you must wear the token."

Rose took the small box he held out to her. "This really wasn't necessary," she murmured. "I wasn't offended." She opened the box to reveal a gold chain from which depended a smoky colored gemstone. "This is lovely, but it's..,"

"Truly suitable," Kraj interrupted. "I had not realized when I chose the bauble that it would compliment your eyes." He saw that she still hesitated. "Please, Ms..,"

"Powers," Rose answered automatically. "Rose Powers. I'm dreadfully sorry. I don't know why I'm being so ill-mannered."

"Perhaps you find our kind disturbing to look at?" Kraj ventured. "Not everyone can deal with beings from other dimensions, and it would certainly be through no fault of yours if you felt that way." He glanced at the diviner and received the final confirmation. Rose Powers was truly the vessel.

Rose felt the hot flush creeping up her face. She felt uncomfortable around this creature, but had no reason to be so rude. Perhaps it would be best to accept his gift. It would certainly be the diplomatic thing to do. She fastened the chain around her neck. "Thank you, Kraj," she said softly. "I guess if you can be so understanding about how rude I've been, the least that I can do is wear your thoughtful gift."

"Its beauty is dimmed by your own." Privately, Kraj thought that the humans were singularly unlovely creatures, but he was well practiced in diplomatic lying. He extracted M'rek's invitation from the folds of his robe. "And my Lord M'rek bade me to deliver this to you as well."

Rose opened the elaborate envelope, but then found herself in difficulties. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "But I'm afraid that I don't read your language." She held out the note to the servant. "Would you be so good as to translate it for me?"

"My pleasure." Kraj took the gilded page from her. "Lord M'rek invites you and your mate to dine with him at a time of your convenience."

Rose wasn't sure how to deal with this. She was, in a manner of speaking, in protective custody. At least the invitation included Spike. While she was sure that attending would be the right thing to do in business terms, she wasn't sure how it would go over on a personal note. "How very gracious of Lord M'rek," she answered. "But I'm afraid that I am unable to give a reply just yet. I'll have to talk the matter over with Spike."

That, at least sounded like a suitable reply to Kraj in this topsy-turvy dimension where females labored and held positions of importance. This one at least understood that the male in the mating should make the decisions. "Of course," he replied in oily tones. "I shall inform his Lordship, who I am sure, shall anxiously await your answer." He bowed. "I have taken up enough of your time, Ms. Powers."

"Please, call me Rose," she mumbled. She was so used to people calling her by her first name that Ms. Powers seemed like another person altogether.

"My honor and pleasure, Rose." Kraj left before his elation became so unrestrained that he howled. Surely Lord M'rek would reward him for this day's work. At the very least, he would let him live another day.

&&&&&&

The dinner dishes had been washed and put away, and Rose cuddled up against Spike on the sofa. When she did so, the gem around her neck slid out from under her blouse where it had rested, nearly forgotten since Kraj's departure.

"What's this, luv?" Spike asked, hefting the stone in his hand, examining it. "You haven't got someone else on the side, have you?"

Rose was about to make an indignant reply when she realized that Spike was just teasing. "Just another of a long line of males who feel they have to apologize to me," she replied airily. She snuggled closer to whisper, "I liked your way better."

Angel, who'd been curious about Rose's new adornment too, almost lost it on that one. And the gag reflex wasn't helped by Spike's trademark smirk. "Where did you get it, Rose?" he asked, before things got out of hand.

"Kraj," she answered. "Lord M'rek's servant, the one that Spike hit." That remark made the smirk go away as Spike winced at the memory of that afternoon. "He insisted on giving it to me to apologize." She turned her face up to look at Spike. "By the way, love, you and I have been invited to dine with his Lordship."

"Oh bloody hell," Spike muttered. "He wants us to sit down to some kibble with him does he?" He looked helplessly at Angel. "You can't let me go," he warned him. "I've already fu.., messed up badly enough with these blokes."

"I agree," Angel said. "Don't worry, Spike, you're off the hook with this one. I'll just explain to his Lordship that Rose is currently under protective custody and that the only way she could accept would be if he allowed a security team to go along to guard her."

"That ought to be enough to change his mind," Rose remarked. She then dismissed the subject from her mind. She picked up her name book and opened it to a marked page. "What do you think of Riley?"

"No!" Both vampires said it in explosive unison.

"You don't have to yell," Rose muttered, checking off the name. "Here's a nice one. Rupert."

Spike and Angel both groaned. The worst part was, they didn't even know if she was doing it on purpose or not.


	15. Watching and Waiting

84

"What news, worm?" M'rek's talons were being tended to by a dozen or so servants. Some actually doing the work, others to-ing and fro-ing. In the midst of all the chaos, M'rek sat, serene and unruffled.

Kraj bit back a whimper. The serenity would not hold for much longer, he feared. "Our initial attempt to seize the vessel must have put them on their guard, my Lord," he whined. "The souled one refuses to allow the vessel to attend without a security team accompanying her." Kraj bowed his head, waiting for the worst.

"Use her human name, Kraj," M'rek admonished in surprisingly mild tones. He paused in thought for a moment. "Very well. Tell Angel." He accented the name. "That we will accept his terms. And invite him to accompany..,"

"Rose and Spike," Kraj supplied, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Yes, invite all three of them, plus their security detachment," M'rek ordered. "Once they set a date, make preparations for a grand feast. No expense is to be spared."

"It shall be as you will it, oh mighty M'rek." Kraj bowed and scraped his way out of the chamber, happy to have dodged the bullet one more time.

&&&&&&

Rose started stacking papers on Wesley's desk for a change.

"The employee evaluations." Thump. "The quarterly budget." Thump. "The bi-annual accomplishment report." Thump. "The annual employee sacrifice report." Thump.

"The what?" Wesley's head came up out of the book he was studying.

"I was wondering what it would take to get your attention," Rose replied. "I'll have to remember that sacrificing employees will do it. There is all your administrative nonsense. Now, do you have something for me to do that is actually worth doing?"

Wesley sighed. Rose had been awfully tetchy since she'd gotten pregnant. She used to be so.., amenable. He suspected that trait would not re-establish itself after the birth. "There's not a lot to do here, Rose," he said. "Except for the prophecy, which is out of bounds for you. They're inventorying everything in the vaults this week. Most of the rest of the department is down there working on it, except for the couple that are helping me. Why don't you take a few..," His voice trailed off as he saw Rose's face twist into a scowl. "You could go help with the inventory, I suppose," he finished weakly.

"Inventory. Fine." Rose dropped the rest of the paperwork on his desk. "If you need me, you know where to find me," she said, heading for the door.

Wesley watched her retreating back and silently prayed that the next few months would pass quickly.

&&&&&&&

"Hey, Hot Mama, what's shaking?" Lorne fell into step beside Rose as she marched down the hall.

"Inventory, evidently," Rose grumbled. "Since I'm not allowed to work on that stupid prophecy. I'd like to know what we were thinking when we created it."

Lorne blinked. "Okay, you kind of lost me on that one, blossom," he admitted. "What prophecy are we talking about, for starters?"

Rose stopped in her tracks and stared. "No one has told you?" She looked at her watch. Lunch, or close enough to it. "Are you free for lunch, Lorne? This could take a while."

"I'm not free, but I am cheap," he replied with a grin. "It's going to cost you a pair of dimples and a little sugar, sugarplum."

Rose smiled and hugged him. And she wasn't sure if she was more cheered by Lorne's sweet, friendly manner, or the fact that there was someone more in the dark than she was.

&&&&&&&

"Talk about being kept out of the loop," Lorne exclaimed. "I didn't realize how out of it I was. I mean I knew that you and the studly one were staying at Casa del Angel because someone tried to put the grab on you again, doll-face, but I had no idea there was a prophecy behind it all."

"Do you think it's right for them to keep me in the dark about it, Lorne?" Rose asked

Lorne was torn between not wanting to hurt her feelings and what he thought was right. "Rosebud precious, try putting yourself in their shoes for a minute," he advised. "It seems to me you've got an even more important job than you realized. So don't you see how we all kind of have an interest in protecting those little bundles of joy you're carrying around?"

Rose pouted while she thought, but her innate sense of fairness won out. "I guess," she muttered. "But I really hate not knowing. Suppose there's something in it I need to know. To keep my babies safe."

Lorne sighed. "None of us down here is omniscient, blossom. And neither are you since you decided to take a little leave of absence from it. So we're all just going to have to take our best shot and hope it all works out."

&&&&&&&&

Spike made his way through the dim, vast expanses of the vaults. It had taken not only his rank, but direct intervention from Angel to get him in here. Blimey, the place didn't half give him the creeping horrors, and considering some of the things he'd seen, that was saying something. It looked like a library in hell, which considering what and where it was, wasn't a bad analogy. "Rose?" he called. He heard her name echo eerily through the place. He stood for long moments, just listening, and finally heard a faint, "Spike?" in answer. He followed the echoes as far as he could, then tried again. Rose's answer was closer this time. It still took a third time before he finally pinpointed her position.

He found her sitting cross-legged on the floor, a stack of papers in her lap, and a clipboard beside her. She glanced at the paper on the top of the stack, then made a mark on the clipboard. "Hello, darling," she greeted him. "I'm almost done here for now. Do you mind waiting for me? This place is starting to give me the shudders."

"You and me both, pet," Spike answered. "Is there anything I can do to speed things along?"

Rose handed him the clipboard. "If you can check things off for me, it ought to help." She yawned. "I think Wesley was going to offer me a few days off. I'm beginning to think I should have taken him up on it."

Spike stopped himself just in time from asking her why she hadn't. She was so determined that her pregnancy wasn't going to slow her down that it was a little scary. But he also found it hard to scold her, especially now, looking down at her as she sat there on the floor, hair mussed from running her fingers through it, no doubt, a smudge of dirt on one cheek. He found the scene incredibly endearing. But, instead of making comments or small talk or anything that would slow her down, he merely dutifully played secretary for her and got her finished up in about fifteen minutes.

Rose tucked the papers back into place in the filing cabinet. "Give me a hand up, will you, love?" she requested. She didn't like admitting to the least little delicacy, but she'd been sitting on the floor for quite a while now, and she was starting to feel like everything was stiffening into place.

Spike carefully helped her to her feet, then caught her up in his arms when her knees buckled. "You all right, babe?" he asked solicitously.

"I think my legs have gone to sleep," Rose replied. She looked at her watch and was surprised at how late it was. "No wonder. I think I've been down there about three hours."

"Silly little nit," Spike said fondly. "It's a wonder you didn't grow roots sitting like that for that long. Now, which way is the way out?"

Rose looked around. "Don't you remember how you got here?" she asked in a small voice.

Spike shook his head. "I was more concerned with locating you, luv," he replied. "Are you trying to tell me that we're lost?"

"Of course we're not lost," Rose muttered. "We're just in the vaults under the building, not in outer Mongolia or something." She swiveled her head around again. "They are awfully big, aren't they?"

"They are indeed, pet," Spike agreed. He turned around. At least, for one small leg of the journey he knew they'd be pointed in the right direction.

&&&&&&&

In the end, it took them over half an hour to negotiate their way through the maze of shelves and filing cabinets till they found the exit. Rose finally persuaded Spike to set her back down on her own feet, and they lost no time making their way to Angel's flat.

Angel was pacing the floors like a caged tiger when the truant lovers appeared. "Where the hell were you two?" he snapped, then added. "I don't want to know what you were doing, just where you were."

"We were in the vaults," Rose supplied, then honesty forced her to admit, "We kind of got lost for a while."

"Next time I'll leave a trail of breadcrumbs," Spike promised. "Are you supposed to be down there all by your lonesome, babe?"

"I did have help when I first got down there," Rose replied. "I guess that no one remembered me when quitting time came around."

Angel was liking things less and less. "Spike, assign her a couple of your men," he ordered. "Make sure you can trust them. I don't want her left alone like that again."

"You'n me both," Spike muttered, fighting back the wave of nausea that he usually felt when he had to agree with the pouf. "Any developments on your front?"

"The invitation to dine with Lord M'rek has been expanded to include me and a security team," Angel replied. "I think we're going to have to go just to keep the client happy." He gave them both a stern look. "Rose, I don't want you going off alone for so much as a minute. And, Spike, please try to remember to think before you speak, act or do anything at all."

"We're going to go?" Spike looked dismayed.

"I've already accepted for all three of us," Angel answered. "Be ready to go Saturday night."

"Buggering hell," Spike muttered. "And to add insult to injury, I 'spose you'll want me to dress like a bleeding nancy-boy too."

"If that means a jacket and tie, then yes," Angel replied. He felt a little petty about it, but damned if he wasn't enjoying Spike's discomfiture at the thought of wearing civilized clothes.

"You'll look very nice, love," Rose soothed. She smiled at him, and despite himself, his resistance melted away.

Spike sighed. Sometimes being love's bitch cost you a lot in the dignity department. He looked at Rose again, and decided it was worth it.

&&&&&&

"They have accepted your invitation, my Lord." Kraj was almost dancing with glee. "Shall we then take Rose, when she is here in our very midst?"

M'rek delivered a casual-looking backhanded blow which sent his chief toady sprawling. "You would dare suggest that I treat honored guests so, slime?" he snarled. "We shall do nothing of the sort. This is, as it always was, an exercise to gain their trust. They will be treated with the utmost civility."

"It shall be as my most gracious Lord orders," Kraj whined, picking himself up painfully. "If this miserable one may ask, Lord, when shall we make our move?"

"Patience, Kraj," M'rek chided. "We have time. The more these off-dimension humans trust us, the less likely they will be to suspect us when we do take possession of Rose. Indeed, should they make mention of her disappearance to us, we shall offer them our aid in her recovery. Deliciously ironic, is it not?"

"Truly, most wise Lord," Kraj mumbled. "But those we deal with are not human. This Angel and Rose's mate, Spike, they are the souled ones. They are not human, they are vampires."

"But they think as humans," M'rek observed. "They were human once, if the records read true. Tell me, litter-mate of defectives, have the scholars made any progress in divining the origin of the vessel?"

"No, Lord," Kraj whimpered. "They have found nothing. As for your suggestion that the prophecy suggests that she comes from beyond all worlds, they flatly state that this is an impossibility. There is nothing beyond all the worlds."

"Have they proof of this?" M'rek demanded.

"My Lord," Kraj replied, inching away from him. "I am informed that it is also an impossibility to prove that something isn't. This is not my unlearned opinion, great and mighty M'rek, but what I have been told by your Lordship's scholars."

"Do the scholars know who is responsible for the prophecies?" M'rek went on a slightly different track. "Not the mystics and seers that penned them, but who inspired them. Those who put the actions in motion by their very words and thoughts."

"I believe that the scholars refer to them as The Powers That Be," Kraj muttered. What was M'rek on about now?

"And where might these Powers That Be, be found?" asked M'rek.

"I myself, have no notion, oh great one," Kraj replied. "Would you desire me to put the question to your scholars?"

"Yes, Kraj." M'rek stroked his muzzle, reflecting. "Ask the scholars where one might find The Powers That Be."


	16. Jacket and Tie

90

"Sir?" Josh Maxwell approached Spike cautiously.

"What is it?" Spike sighed. He'd just finished picking out the team to guard them for the trip to dog-boy's dinner party.

"Well, it's just..," The man coughed, fidgeted, shuffled his feet. "I know you don't have any reason to trust me, but I'd like to be part of the bodyguard."

Spike shook his head. "Nothing doing," he said. "I'll lay you odds that fancy guard isn't going to be anything but show. I've got something else for you to do."

"Sir?" The old Josh Maxwell had probably never used the word. The new Josh seemed to rely on it as a crutch.

"Rose is going to be doing some inventory work down in the vaults," Spike informed him. "Lots of room down there, plenty of places to hide. I need a couple of lads to keep an eye on her. You'll do for one."

Josh was utterly stunned that Spike would allow him to guard the very lady he himself had once tried to kidnap. "If I might ask, sir, why are you trusting me to guard her?" There was an odd emphasis, almost a touch of awe attached to the final pronoun.

"Because you're still afraid that I'll drink your blood if you screw up," Spike said flatly. "And considering that it's Rose we're talking about, I just might. I figure that makes you more reliable than someone who thinks me having a soul means the Big Bad doesn't have fangs anymore."

"You can count on me." Josh still had occasional nightmares about Spike in game-face, offering to drink his blood. "And not just because of that."

"Then why?" Spike was curious now. He knew why he'd go to the ends of the earth for Rose, and Josh's reason had better be something different.

"The lady is something special," Josh mumbled, flushing a bit. "She keeps her cool no matter what." Spike reflected that Maxwell hadn't been around Rose since her pregnancy. "Besides, I never did hold with anyone messing with pregnant women or kids. That just ain't right."

"Consider yourself Rose's personal guard until she's done with the inventory," Spike ordered. "Maybe after, if I think she still needs to be watched."

"You can count on me," Josh repeated.

&&&&&&&&

"You look very smart, darling," Rose observed, as Spike twiddled with the ends of his tie, trying to figure out how to tie the damned thing. It wasn't a skill that he considered necessary to his happiness and well-being. Therefore, on the rare occasions he was called upon to wear one, it was always a battle to remember how to do it. He looked at Rose, and the sulking frown became one of consternation.

"What in the hell are you doing to yourself, sweetheart?" Spike started removing pins from Rose's hard-won coiffure.

"Hey!" she protested. "It took me forever to do that, love. And now, I don't have time to start all over."

"Good," Spike said. "What in the world possessed you to put it up like that anyway? It makes you look like a schoolmarm."

"It made me look taller," Rose muttered. "Now I'm going to spend the entire evening feeling like everyone is looming over me."

Spike laughed. "You don't need to be tall to impress anyone, luv," he replied, twining a lock of hair around his finger to make it curl. "You're pretty damn impressive already." He picked up her hairbrush and restored her tresses to their normal silky waves. "There, you look beautiful."

"You always say that," she mumbled, not entirely mollified.

"'Cause it's always true," Spike remarked. He bent and kissed her cheek. "If you're done here, pet, I'm sure that by now, grampaw is ready and pacing the floor waiting on us."

"You haven't tied your tie yet," Rose pointed out.

"Piss on it," he said rudely. He didn't even bother to take the thing off, just let the ends dangle. Jacket and tie indeed.

"You look lovely, Rose," Angel said when they emerged from the bedroom, and wondered why the compliment earned him a glare. He turned his attention to Spike. "Shit, Spike. Is it going to take you as long to learn to tie a tie as it did for you to learn to tie your shoes?"

"Can't bleeding see what I'm doing," Spike muttered. "I don't know why you're making all this fuss, anyway. Nobody's going to be looking at me."

Angel sighed. "Come here," he ordered. Spike rolled his eyes, but obeyed. Angel tried to tie the tie, but everything was basackwards for him. "Turn around," he instructed, and in the manner of a father teaching his son the intricacies of tying a tie, managed it. "Are we all ready, then?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Spike commented, running a finger under his collar. If he didn't know better, and he couldn't swear that he did, he'd think the ponce was trying to strangle him.

"I guess so," Rose murmured. She was still in mourning over her lost, lamented hair-do.

"Then let's go," Angel said, offering Rose his arm. He sauntered off with her, leaving Spike to bring up the rear.

&&&&&&&&

"I didn't realize that Wolfram and Hart had a portal room," Rose remarked, finally having gotten over her sulk. "If I had known this was here when I became a specter, I might have tried to use it to communicate with the others."

"You're not complaining about how things turned out, are you?" Spike asked. He was sulking now, with the pouf swaggering around with Rose on his arm like she was his bird instead of Spike's.

"Of course I'm not, darling," she replied. She disengaged herself from Angel and slipped her arm through Spike's. When he didn't lighten up immediately, she whispered something in his ear that caused a smirky grin to cross his features. Angel decided that he didn't want to know what she'd said to cheer him up.

When they got to the portal room, there were six of the ops men waiting to escort them.

"I hope you think that two apiece is enough," Spike observed. "I figure that if we need more than two apiece, we're probably buggered anyway."

"Probably," Angel agreed. He didn't like the notion of bodyguards in the first place. He was the one that did the guarding. He turned to the men. "You guys just stay alert for trouble, but don't go making it," he directed them. "And if something does happen, don't worry about me and Spike, we can take care of ourselves. Your main concern is getting Rose back here safe and sound."

"And if any of you mucks that one up, he won't live long enough to regret it," Spike added.

Angel took Rose's other arm, so that he and Spike flanked her. Then, the three of them stepped into the portal with the ops men following close behind.

&&&&&&&

Kraj was inspecting the banquet hall, making sure that everything was in order. When he lifted a cover from one tray, though, his features suffused with rage. "Come here!" he ordered the first servant that came within range. "This will not do." He gestured towards the dish, which was comprised of a humanoid infant, displayed and garnished much in the manner of a roast, suckling pig. "It looks too much like them," he explained impatiently. "Remove it at once. Lord M'rek will not be pleased if you insult his honored guests."

The servant obeyed without comment, not surprising, since like all the rest, he had had his tongue removed at a tender age.

Kraj redoubled his efforts, checking under each lid, then venturing into the kitchen to prevent any more such outrageous social gaffes. Luckily, that had been the only one. Witless underlings, Kraj thought. He glanced over the arrangements again. It looked a little odd, with such a small section of the long table to be occupied. The hall was meant to accommodate large numbers of guests, but tonight his Lordship dined alone with the three demons, with none of his own kind about save for Kraj, the humble shadow that hovered by his shoulder. He spared a moment to wonder where the security detachment would be, then decided that he didn't care. He had been given no orders along those lines, and so, took no initiative. He went to see how the dolts were faring arraying Lord M'rek to greet his guests.

&&&&&&&&&

"You will seat the female.., Rose," M'rek amended. "To my right. Give them to understand that she is the honored guest."

"A female?" Kraj tried not to show his outrage. But then, none of the off-dimension creatures were truly deserving of the honor. "If my Lord so orders," he replied weakly.

"I do so order," M'rek said sternly. "Have you ordered a servant killed and drained that the vampires might dine as well?"

"No, most august Lord," Kraj answered. "I have been given to understand that the souled ones drink only animal's blood. Our servants have too much the appearance of humans. Instead, I have ordered the blood from one of the grazing herd beasts."

M'rek appraised his reflection in the mirror, and made a minute adjustment to a heavy, bejeweled pectoral. "Have you had word from the scholars regarding The Powers That Be?"

"Regretfully, no, oh great M'rek," Kraj whimpered. "I have of a necessity been busied with the preparations for your guests. And a good thing that I have been," he was emboldened to add. "Else the demons might well have been mortally offended."

"Explain to me," M'rek demanded. And Kraj filled him in on the ruinous mistake that had been made by servants who had merely been told to serve the best of everything, and given no detailed instructions. It had the desired effect, though, to make Kraj look good. He was ever on the alert to make himself look good. His life depended on it.

&&&&&&&&

The portal opened to admit Rose and her retinue, there to be met by the ever groveling and subservient, Kraj.

"Greetings to you all." He tried to beam at them genially, but his histrionic talents fell a bit short of the mark. "Lord M'rek is pleased beyond measure that you have deigned to accept his invitation. If you will follow me, I will escort you into his august and serene presence."

He led the group to the banquet hall, keeping up a flow of amiable, inane chatter all the while. Angel and Spike were silent, merely because they had nothing to say. Neither one had ever been much on small talk. Rose was in awe at the sheer scale of things. She felt positively dwarfed by the immensity of it all. She clutched Spike's arm with both hands as if anchoring herself to him.

If Rose had felt dwarfed before, she felt almost microbial when seated in the chair meant for beings such as their host. She reflected that all three of them could have fit into it. All right, that might be a bit of a squeeze. But certainly she and Spike could have fit with no problem. Not that they ever had a problem with proximity. But the scale also removed the two vampires from her. Spike was seated across the wide expanse of the table, with Angel at his side, and the scowl on his face spoke volumes. For form's sake, she gave him a warning look, but her heart wasn't really in it. She'd rather have him right beside her if she had her choice. But it was just for the evening, she reminded herself. The ops men, rather than trying to cover the entire echoing chamber, merely stood at a distance from the table, three to a side.

"So good of you to join me." M'rek appeared from behind an elaborately woven tapestry, resplendent in jewels and silks. "Shall we begin?"

Kraj served M'rek, and, at his Lord's direction, Rose as well. M'rek went out of his way to charm her, flattering and seeing that she got the best of everything. The vampires he scarcely acknowledged.

Angel and Spike sipped cautiously at the blood in the elaborate goblets in front of them and exchanged a glance. Blood it was, but there was something off about the taste. It may simply have been a difference in chemistry from crossing dimensions, then again, it might not. Spike, never too keen to accept M'rek's hospitality in the first place was silently fuming over the way that the jackal-like demon fawned over Rose.

Rose felt more than a little uncomfortable from M'rek's attentions. Especially since he was ignoring her escort. She had been given to understand that they were all his guests, but he was acting as if they were merely stage props. But she seldom found it in her to be rude, and most especially now, when she was feeling intimidated and nervous and knowing that she had to keep her company manners polished.

Angel took the opportunity to study M'rek and Kraj. He didn't mind being left out of the small talk, and being seated across the table from Rose meant he had a clear field of vision should something threaten her. He could practically feel the anger radiating in waves from Spike, but as long as his wayward grandchilde kept his mouth shut, he was willing to ignore it. Spike took everything so personally. He just hoped that the younger vampire would stop seething long enough to do some observing of his own. When it came to sorting out motives and feelings, there was none better than Spike. He often picked up on the things that Angel had to admit he missed.

The meal dragged on interminably, and Angel had to put a restraining hand on Spike's arm when M'rek began feeding Rose choice tidbits. He figured it was just another custom in this dimension. A way of honoring a guest.

M'rek was delighted when Rose accepted food from his hand, just as all his favored pets did. She shouldn't take too much training at all. Perhaps he would let her live after she was delivered of her young.

&&&&&&&&&

The contingent from Wolfram and Hart gratefully re-entered the portal at the end of the night. Angel figured that the minute they came out on the other side, Spike would probably start ranting and raving. He had to admit that the cocky Brit had held it in all night, and if pressed would even possibly bring himself to congratulate him on his self-control. But he knew that after having the fuse burning all night, the explosion was inevitable.

"Bloody uppity mutt," he muttered. "Where's he get off, feeding Rose like a baby?"

Angel just barely managed to keep from pointing out that Spike had done so himself upon occasion. That wasn't what Spike wanted to hear just now. And, he had to confess that the situations were not identical. "I'm sure it was just a way of honoring a guest," he said soothingly. "Instead of pissing and moaning about it, you ought to be telling Rose what a good job she did in keeping our client happy."

Spike gave an inelegant grunt. "'Course she did," he growled. "If she hadn't, dog-boy wouldn't have been drooling over her all night." He looked at Rose, who had determined to stay out of it as much as possible. "Did the food agree with you, luv?"

"It seemed to, why?" Rose wondered. "Was there something wrong with the blood they served you?"

"Didn't taste.., right," Spike remarked. It was far short of the way he felt, but he couldn't quite find the right words to express what he meant.

"How did you get rid of it?" Angel asked. He'd surreptitiously emptied his into a vase of flowers. It hadn't been all that difficult to do, seeing as how their host's attention had been largely focused on Rose.

"I always knew there had to be some reason to have potted plants about," Spike said casually. "Better than your flower vase. They're gonna notice that when they clean up after."

"I had to make do with what I could reach," Angel protested. "There weren't any plants near me." He let them into the apartment, loosening his tie as he let them proceed him. Spike's had disappeared on the trip from the portal room. "Do you two want to watch a movie or something?" He headed for the living room.

"Knock yourself out," Spike replied. "We've got better things to do, don't we, pet?" Arm around Rose's waist, he swaggered into the bedroom.


	17. Alarm Bells

94

Spike lay in the darkness, listening to Rose's regular breathing. It had taken her a while to reach this state. She'd been uncommon restless tonight. Now that she had finally fallen asleep, he was wide awake, but not about to stir for fear of disturbing her.

Perhaps needless to say, he had her spooned up close to him, taking joy in just feeling her nestled against his body, breathing in the scent of her. Heaven. One hand was draped across her midsection to rest against her stomach, which was just showing the first infinitesimal traces of expansion. He almost jumped out of the bed in shocked surprise when he felt something under the surface of her satiny skin move under his hand, which he yanked away from her as if it had been burned.

He tried calming himself down. Good thing his heart no longer beat, he mused idly, because if it did, the frenzied pounding would no doubt be all that he could hear now. Cautiously, he put his hand back where it had been. Nothing at first, then the same small movement. A smile crept across his face when he at last realized what he was feeling. Life. The living, growing babes within his beloved's womb were moving. He remained still and silent for a long time thereafter, hoping to feel his kids moving in Rose's belly again, but evidently they, like their mother, were asleep.

&&&&&&&

"It was absolutely incredible, Angel." Spike was wasting no time in spreading the news. "I felt them move. Last night I felt my kids move."

If Angel didn't know better, he could have sworn he saw the hint of a tear glistening in the corner of Spike's eye. And Spike had imparted the bulletin without a single insult. He felt a brief pang at the thought that the one thing in the world he had always counted on to stay the same might indeed be changing. He felt a larger stab of pain at the memory of Connor, and a surge of jealousy washed over him that Spike was getting to share in a lot of the firsts that he had been denied. And would, no doubt continue to do so, unless, god forbid, something went wrong. He gave himself a mental shaking. As far as Connor was concerned, what was done was done. But that was no reason to go bursting Spike's bubble. He'd never seen Spike quite like this before. He positively effervesced.

"That's great, Spike." He forced a smile, which became more genuine when a sleep-tousled Rose emerged from the bedroom. "What did it feel like to you, Rose?"

"What did what feel like?" Rose asked, mystified. Except for sleeping there was only one activity that she could recall taking place since she had seen Angel last night, and she was positive that he wasn't asking about that.

Angel looked to Spike, who looked a little shamefaced. "Okay, what am I missing here?" he asked.

"Well, you see, Rose was asleep," Spike mumbled sheepishly. "She'd been so long dropping off that I didn't want to wake her. She does need her rest, you know."

"You didn't wake her for something like that?" Angel was incredulous. "Spike, they're her kids too. Didn't you think she'd want to be in on it?"

"Be in on what?" Rose queried, a little crossly. All she could tell from the conversation so far, was that whatever they were talking about concerned her.

Spike went over to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her so that he could rest his hands on her stomach. "Last night after you went to sleep I felt the kids moving in your belly, babe," he said softly. "Our kids, moving around inside you." His tones were that of utter awe.

"They moved?" Rose fought down a sudden wave of panic. It must be all right, or Spike wouldn't be so happy about it. "They're supposed to move?" she asked in slightly less tense tones.

Angel couldn't suppress a laugh, which earned him a glare from Spike. But the glare didn't last long. Spike had other things on his mind.

"Guess you hadn't got to that page in your books yet, luv," he crooned in her ear. "Yes, pet, they are supposed to move. And I felt it happen for the first time." He was grinning from ear to ear again.

&&&&&&&&

"Lorne, can you spare me a minute?" Rose popped into the Pylean's office first thing Monday morning.

"Sure, Rosebud, take as many minutes as you want." Lorne turned off his cell phone so that the number of calls that could interrupt them would be limited to the ones coming into the phone on his desk.

"I want you to read me, please." Tones were calm enough, but there was a hint of worry around her eyes.

"Is something wrong, precious?" Lorne sincerely hoped that it was just feminine vapors brought on by the surge of hormones. He hated to think that something might be wrong with Rose or her kids.

"I don't know," Rose admitted. "I don't think so, I just want to make sure that everything is all right with my children."

"Sweetie-pie, reading a pregnant woman is not a day at the beach," Lorne warned her. "As a matter of fact, I usually can't get diddly-squat from it. I think it may come from having more than one person in there."

"Couldn't we at least try?" Rose begged. "It's just kind of scary, Lorne. I've never even been a baby, let alone had anything to do with them. And now I'm going to have two."

"We could give it the old college try, I suppose," Lorne said dubiously. "I find it hard enough to read you at the best of times, blossom. I find that golden voice of yours too distracting."

"Let's try this then," Rose suggested. She started singing wordlessly, her voice just gliding up and down the scale in nonsense syllables, but after a minute or so, Lorne shook his head.

"'Fraid not, doll-baby," he muttered. "I'm sorry as I can be, but there's just nothing coherent to read." He paused a moment in thought. "If it's just the munchkins that you're worried about, there's someone else who's definitely tied to them. Do you think you could talk that blonde love-muffin of yours into crooning a tune for me?"

"I don't know," Rose replied helplessly. Then, the helpless look left her features to be replaced by a crafty conniving expression. "Maybe I can." She gave Lorne a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Lorne. I'll see what I can do about Spike."

Lorne just stood there for a few minutes after her departure. "God help that boy," he murmured to himself. "She's discovered feminine wiles."

&&&&&&&&

Rose was met by Josh and his partner at the entrance to the vaults as was becoming a habit. "Good morning, Josh, Matt," Rose said. "I'm sorry I'm a bit late this morning, but I had something to do. Are you ready to spend the day being bored to tears?"

Matt said nothing, but kept an emotionless expression on his face. It was just another job to him, and he enjoyed playing the stoic. Josh, however, grinned at her. "Hey, this is easy money," he said, and recalled another time when he thought that Rose was going to be easy money. This was better.

"Well, I can't deny that I like having the company," Rose admitted. "I know this place is supposed to be secure, but it gives me the creeps all the same."

They had developed a system. Rose would chose her spot to work, and the two men would stand facing away from her several feet away in each direction so that they could stop anything coming at her. They never suspected that something could beat that system.

It was late morning, and the grumbles Rose's stomach was producing was announcement enough that it was about time to break for lunch when a swirling distortion in the air beside her heralded the opening of a dimensional portal. Rose looked up in time to see two large men of the same stamp as the first five that had tried to capture her. She let out a surprised yelp and dove for the floor.

The two ops men turned simultaneously and seeing a clear target, opened fire on them, spattering the nearby filing cabinets, and incidentally, Rose, with orange blood. The two would-be abductors fell to the floor, dead before the portal even closed.

Josh was immediately at Rose's side, making sure none of the shots had come near her, none of the blood was hers, and just generally seeing that she was all right. Matt was on a cell phone talking to Spike and filling him in on the occurrence.

Soon enough, the vaults were a veritable hive of activity. People from research coming to remove the bodies to the lab. A forensic crew from the same department to analyze anything that might be worth analyzing. A clean-up crew standing patiently by waiting for their turn. And last, but certainly not least, Spike and Angel.

Spike, heedless of the fact that Rose was liberally coated with the luridly-colored gore rushed to take her in his arms. "Are you okay, babe?" He cuddled her close just to reassure himself that she was still there.

"I'm fine," she replied, voice muffled on account of her face being pressed against his chest. "I'd like to breathe, though, love."

Angel had been holding a quiet conference with her bodyguards, and now was punching buttons on his cell phone. "Wes? I want someone warding these vaults against portals, and I want it done yesterday." He flipped the phone shut without waiting for a reply. He turned to the lovebirds. "Spike, let her up for air, will you?" he requested. "How are you doing, Rose?"

"I'm a little shaken," Rose confessed, voice sounding clearer now that Spike had loosened his hold on her a bit. "And gross. Why do I always seem to be where all the demon blood is flying?"

"Better theirs than yours, sweetheart," Spike remarked. "Damn, I've got it all over me now, too."

"Why don't the two of you call it a day?" Angel suggested. "Go get cleaned up. Get her out of here, Spike, she's paler than you are."

&&&&&&&&&

"My Lord?" Kraj crept into M'rek's presence timidly, cringing.

"What now?" demanded M'rek impatiently. Kraj should be leading Rose into his chambers at this moment. That he wasn't was a sign that things had not gone his way again.

"It appears that she was guarded, most august M'rek." Kraj gulped nervously. "The warriors sent after her fell before the portal dispersed. Indeed, some of their projectiles entered the still-open gate and wounded the mystics who summoned the portal."

"I see that you are unscathed, worm," M'rek observed. "You seem to lead a charmed life. Perhaps I should send you to seize my property, since the lesser creatures seem so incapable of it."

Kraj bowed his head. "If my Lord so orders it," he whined. "Gladly would I lay down my life in your most glorious service, my Lord."

"I sincerely doubt that, Kraj," M'rek remarked. "But if it is required of you, you shall do so. Now, it seems we must wait. They have not yet let down their guard, and now they shall be doubly cautious. We must reflect on the matter a while."

"I have no will but yours, oh mighty M'rek." Kraj scuttled out of the chamber. That had been too close for comfort. Kraj was beginning to feel that the thrice damned prophecy was an omen of his doom.

&&&&&&&&&

Spike rinsed the last of the shampoo and other less innocuous substances out of Rose's hair. "At least this stuff isn't dissolving your pretty hair, pet," he commented. "Good thing too, or you'd be nearly bald now."

Rose gave a shudder at the memory. She'd held together well enough, but being sprayed with someone or something else's bodily fluids was not her idea of a good time. Under most circumstances. She quelled her fears. It was all over, and she was here, safe, doing nothing more dangerous than showering with Spike. "Do you want me to wash your back for you, darling?"

"Back, front, whatever you like." Spike turned her to face him so he could kiss her. "Why don't we see what runs out first, us, or the hot water?"

&&&&&&&&

"Well, they're obviously from the same place the first guy was from," Fred reported. "But the bodies really didn't tell us much. Wesley said that these people don't really have a dimension of their own anymore. Mostly they're just scattered around different dimensions, usually as slaves."

"Do they have their tongues cut out like the others did?" Angel asked.

Fred used gloved hands to open one of the corpses mouths. "Yep. Same as the others," she replied. "At least these two have their original clothes on, since they didn't expect to be seen by anyone. Maybe we can get some idea of where they're from by analyzing it."

"Get right on it and keep me posted," Angel instructed. Then, as though thinking aloud, he said, "I wonder how they knew just where to find Rose?"

&&&&&&&&

Wesley not only had his entire staff, minus Rose, assembled, but all the witches on staff as well. Warding the entire area of the vaults was not going to be an easy job. But obviously an essential one, so a way would be found. And like Angel, he wondered how the kidnappers knew just where to find Rose.


	18. New Strategy

99

"Spike? Could you do me a favor, love?" Rose murmured, snuggling against him.

"Whatever you want, pet." Spike, happy that she was safe and sound, not to mention being contented and a bit drowsy from their extra-curricular activities, was feeling mellow enough to make rash promises.

Rose was amazed at how easy it was. Maybe she should save all her important requests until after they had made love. "I'd like you to sing for Lorne," she said. "He can't read me at all since I'm pregnant, but you have ties to the babies too. I just want to make sure that everything is all right."

Spike sighed. He really didn't like doing the readings, on general principle more than anything else. But he'd already opened his big mouth and promised. All in a good cause anyway. He felt a glow of pride in Rose. She was going to be such a good mother despite her nervous qualms. "Sure thing, babe," he agreed. What else could he do? "When did you have in mind?"

"How about now?" she suggested. Rose knew she had the advantage right now, and intended to avail herself of it while she could.

"Right now?" Spike asked in dismay. They had the rest of the day off, the pouf wouldn't be back for a couple of hours yet, and he wasn't that tired. Besides, he already had her in bed, the hot water had run out on them, already naked, and he had other things on his mind than singing. He pulled her closer and started nuzzling at her neck, hoping she'd reconsider.

"Well, not right now," Rose admitted. She started wriggling out of his arms. "We have to get dressed first."

&&&&&&&&

Angel was thinking, he absolutely refused to admit to brooding. Dammit, the whole point of having Rose stay with him and incidentally having to put up with Spike's company was to keep Rose safe. So what good did it do if someone could open a portal right into Wolfram and Hart and try to snatch her up anyway? They had to get this resolved, and soon, and not just for his personal convenience. Very soon, Rose and Spike were going to have to start laying in supplies for the little ones, and that was just not going to happen while they were still rooming with him. The place seemed way too crowded now, there really wasn't room for the pitter-patter of little feet. Despite the direction his thoughts were running in, a smile lit up his somber features. He was almost as excited about the kids as Spike was.

&&&&&&&&

Spike was feeling sulky and not really caring who knew it. Okay, so he had told Rose he'd do anything she wanted. Dirty pool, that, asking him when he was so shagged out, no pun intended, and vulnerable.

Rose trotted on ahead of him, sure that he would follow. After all, he had promised, and Spike had never broken a promise to her yet. She realized that he was not entirely happy at the moment, but that would pass. There would always be plenty of opportunities for them to make love, but she was only going to be pregnant for a few short months, and she wanted to know if her babies were all right. Her babies and Spike's. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, and if Spike hadn't had a vampire's reflexes, he'd have plowed right into her.

"Is something wrong, babe?" The self-indulgent sulks gave way to more pressing concerns.

In answer, Rose turned around and took his hands and placed them on her abdomen. "Is that what you felt?" she asked. "Is that our babies moving inside me?"

Spike stood still, waiting for the tiny movement, and sure enough, it happened again. The smile spreading across his face was all the answer that Rose needed. They just stood there like that, oblivious to the foot-traffic around them.

Harmony came limping down the hall in a bad mood. She'd just gotten these new shoes and before she'd had them a week, a heel had broken. She was grumpy and cross and wondering if she could get away with not wearing shoes for the rest of the day when she saw Spike and Rose. "What's going on?" she asked, feeling a little concerned. After a rocky start, she now considered Rose her friend, and Spike, well, Spike was just Spike.

"Feel this." Spike took Harm's hand and placed it where his had just rested, and the action was rewarded with a ripple of movement. "Can you feel it Harm? Our kids moving?"

A look of awe crossed Harmony's face. She didn't know of anyone else that would let her do something like this, and to be honest, she hadn't been much interested before. When the movements ceased, she bent down beside Rose for a moment, speaking to her stomach. "Hi kids, this is your Auntie Harmony." As she stood, her face took on a puzzled expression. "Wait a minute, kids?"

"According to all the experts," Rose remarked wryly. "There are two of them. And when I say experts, I don't mean the obstetrician."

Harmony still looked confused, not all that uncommon a sight, and since she did really seem to have gotten over her antipathy for Rose, Spike decided to try to enlighten her. "Two heartbeats, Harm. Both me and Angel heard them."

Confusion gave way to amazement, and she suddenly realized that she was going to have to amend the invitations to the baby shower to include that fact. She threw her arms around both of them for a quick hug, then limped away without a word.

&&&&&&&&

"Eww, that's a little gross," Harmony had walked in on Fred who was working on the latest additions for the morgue.

"A vampire turned off by the sight of a little blood?" Fred asked in amusement.

"It's not supposed to be orange," Harmony replied. "Besides, neatness counts. What happened to these guys?"

"Well," Fred said, humoring her visitor, but indulging her own sense of humor as well. "Judging from all the bullet holes, I'd say they were shot. Several times. A portal just opened in the vaults and they tried to grab Rose. It's a good thing Angel and Spike thought to put a bodyguard on her." That was all that Harmony really needed to know, and possibly a bit more besides. And she didn't think that the executive secretary had come to the lab for a lesson in forensics. "What brings you here, Harmony?"

"Did you know that Rose is going to have twins?" Harmony inquired.

"You didn't?" Fred was amazed. The news had been relayed to her by.., well, by Wesley, who worked closely with Rose and had an inside track. "I'm sorry, Harmony. I didn't think to tell you. Wesley told me, and you know he works in the same department as Rose."

Harmony shrugged. She had nothing to gain by sulking now, and she had other things on her mind. "Do you think we ought to mention it on the shower invitations?" she asked. "It might make a difference. You know, some people might want to get things that match."

"It might not be a bad idea," Fred conceded. "I'm glad we decided to hold off on the invitations a while. I can't wait till they do the ultrasound on her next o.b.s visit. Maybe we'll even get to find out what sex the babies are." She paused a moment in thought. "If I remember my child development right, they ought to be starting to move soon."

"They already are." Harmony started bubbling over. "I just got to feel it a few minutes ago. And get this, Spikey was the one who let me. It was awesome."

&&&&&&&&

Lorne was amazed. The day was barely more than half over, and here was Rose bringing in Spike. The feminine wiles must be working full time, he thought. Of course, the Rosebud did have a slight edge on things right now.

"I've got an idea," Lorne mused aloud, before Spike could just jump in with something silly, which he often did just out of perversity. "When you sing, sing to Rose. No, cancel that. Sing to the kids."

Spike looked askance at Lorne. "Sing to the kids?" he echoed. "What difference is that going to make? It's not like they're gonna hear me."

"Au contraire," the Pylean disagreed. "I've been doing a little research, and who hasn't, these days, and they can hear you. So sing to the kiddies, Spike."

Spike mentally went through his musical repertoire, rejecting a large portion of it as unsuitable for the kids to hear. Most of it, actually. What in hell was he going to sing? He'd have to go for something old, he decided, not noticing the irony in the fact that he thought of old as something that didn't touch him. Well, it really didn't. He knelt beside Rose, bringing his face level with her belly, and started singing. "'Golden slumbers fill your eyes. Smiles await you when you rise. Sleep pretty darling do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby.'"

"God bless the British invasion," Lorne murmured in awe. He had never heard Spike sound so good. "Rest easy, parents-to-be. Your little lambs are fine and happy." A puzzled expression crossed his face. Lots more images than he could or would tell them about, at least not until he cleared it with the big guy in the CEO's office. But there was something he didn't expect, had never happened before. "They know you love them." He had to say that, it had come through clear as a bell, almost like little voices inside his head. He wondered if maybe there were.

&&&&&&&&&

"The vaults are now warded against portals opening," Wesley reported to Angel. "And no easy job either, warding such a large area. But unless we keep Rose in the vaults indefinitely, she's still going to be vulnerable in most of the building, including your flat."

"I know," Angel replied. "I know it will take time, Wes, but would it be possible to do the whole building? With the exception of the portal room, of course. And that's always guarded."

"It will take time," the Watcher replied. "I'm actually surprised that Wolfram and Hart hadn't taken the precaution before we took over. As a general rule, their security was pretty good."

"We've still got to find out who's behind this," Angel remarked. "Spike and Rose shouldn't be cooped up here, living with me. They should be in their own place, setting up a nursery, going shopping for baby things. They have enough to think about without having this hanging over them."

"Have you heard from Fred yet on the latest intruders?" Wesley asked.

"Not yet," Angel answered. "I'm trying to stay away from her so she can work. I know that what she does takes time, and I do get a little impatient."

"Do we have any idea as to how they knew exactly where to look for Rose?" Wes inquired. "Seeing as how they look remarkably like the chaps that destroyed her apartment, they almost certainly had to be after the same thing. It was not just a random chance that they happened to appear in the vaults."

"Not a clue," Angel admitted. "But it's been bugging the hell out of me too. How on earth did they know exactly where to look?"

"Do you want one of the psychics to give her a going over?" Wesley suggested.

"I'll think about it," Angel said. "But I don't want to go off the deep end, either. I know Rose needs protecting, but she needs a little time away from all this crap too. If this keeps up it could stress her so badly that she loses the babies."

"It is a fine line," Wes agreed. "However, I do think that Rose is made of sterner stuff than any of us gives her credit for." There didn't seem to be anything else to add as far as professional concerns went, so the Watcher allowed himself to be human for a moment. "Who do you think they'll pick for godparents?"

&&&&&&&

M'rek sat alone in his throne room, idly fingering the gilded chain attached to his seat. The collar on the chain should be occupied by now, and it irked him considerably that it wasn't. But Rose was being well guarded, and he was sure that that guarding would now intensify. On the other hand, perhaps their adversaries would not expect another attempt so soon after the last. Maybe it would be best to make a lightning strike right away, before the protectors had a chance to gather their wits about them. And time for that worthless piece of scum, Kraj, to justify his continued existence. "Kraj!" he bellowed, sure he would be heard.

Kraj entered, groveling as usual. "What does my Lord require?" he asked, hoping it was something that he could deliver. He knew that his lease on life was tenuous at best right now.

"When do you next visit Wolfram and Hart?" M'rek inquired. "I have a task for you to perform there."

"There are documents that they request on the morrow, oh great Lord," the menial informed him. "What task may your lowly servant perform for you?"

"Bring her to me, Kraj." M'rek didn't bother identifying the pronoun, there was only one possibility who it could be. "Get your tiny little mind on some devious ruse that will allow you to bring her with you when you return."

"My Lord?" Kraj dared to question M'rek in his dismay. "I thought that in your infinite wisdom you had decided that we must wait until the protectors let their guard down."

"That is obviously not going to happen," M'rek replied. "So instead, we will steal her away immediately, before they can fully recover from the last attempt."

"As always, it shall be as your august Lordship demands," Kraj whined. Devious ruse indeed. He would need the very best that he could come up with on this occasion. Either that, or stay among the humans and beg asylum, and the very thought of that revolted him beyond thinking. Not only for betraying his pack leader, but just because the humans were so.., human. He wondered just how perverse M'rek was in just wanting to make a pet of one. But then, some people did seem to dote on ugly pets. He sighed and shuffled away, trying to think of a way to smuggle Rose away from the safety of the law firm.


	19. The Trap is Sprung

102

"Hey, Angelcakes, could I grab a minute?" Lorne entered Angel's office and made himself at home, which on this occasion, like many others, included a trip to the bar.

"Is it important, Lorne?" Angel asked. "Because I'm up to my ass in work right now."

"Would Rose and the little bundles of joy be considered important?" Lorne paused just long enough to let it sink in, which was, incidentally long enough to toss back a shot of painkiller. "I just did a reading on Spike, voluntary, I might add, that is, the blossom volunteered him, and I had to do some shuckin' and jivin' as usual."

"Why did Rose want Spike to get a reading?" Angel was curious, true, but he was also postponing the bad news he just knew was coming.

Well, I can't read the lady when she's busy baking, so she talked the Spikester into it to see if the kids were doing okay," Lorne explained. "And they are, I'm happy to report, and I told them. There was also something a little weird, but it wasn't anything bad, so I guess that can wait."

"But there's a bad, isn't there?" Angel asked with a sigh. There almost invariably seemed to be.

"You mean like seeing our Rose in next to nothing with a collar and chain? Or the bleached blonde one fighting someone or something I couldn't see with a hellacious big sword?" Lorne shook his head. "The bad guys are going to find a way through security, big guy, and that's the only way I can read this one."

Part of Angel's brain was still back a few pages. He was thinking about the earlier part of Lorne's speech and the idea came that it could give them a timeline of sorts. "You said she was in next to nothing, so am I right in assuming you could see her stomach?"

"That and a whole lot more," Lorne agreed. "Basically, a few strategically place bits of material and enough jewelry to stock a small store."

"How far along did she look?" Angel plowed on, refusing to be sidetracked.

Lorne finally got it, and frowned, concentrating on the memory, which was even now trying to evaporate. "Just barely bulging," he replied at last. "So I guess that means it's going to happen soon."

"Too soon," Angel remarked. "I'm going to have to find a way to beef up security around Rose. Without disturbing her if I can, but it's got to be done."

&&&&&&&

Rose was working away, humming a tune, just generally happy to be out of the vaults and not needing a bodyguard anymore. While she realized the necessity, and like Spike, would go to any lengths to protect their children, she still hated it. Her stomach gave a protesting rumble, and she was surprised when she checked the time and found that it was past time to break for lunch. She started to pick up her lunch sack, then glanced at her hands. The books she'd been handling had slipped through the cleaning crew's cracks, as it were, and her hands were filthy. Better go and wash them first.

She was just exiting the restroom when she met Kraj in the hall. "Oh, hello, it's nice to see you again," she fibbed. The servile canine and his master still made her nervous, but manners first.

"Lovely lady," Kraj lied even more glibly. "How fortuitous that we meet. I was just leaving, would you be so good as to walk along with me?"

Rose didn't really want to, but could think of no polite way out of it. "Why not?" she replied. "I'm supposed to do some walking during my lunch break, I guess that I'll just do it first today."

"Why is it required that you walk?" Kraj asked politely.

"The doctor wants me to get the exercise," Rose answered. "Since I work sitting down at a desk. I need to get up and about now and then. For my babies."

"A good mother puts the needs of her litter first," Kraj agreed, once more forgetting social contexts.

Rose fought down a frown. "Kraj, we don't refer to human babies as litters," she pointed out gently. "Not even when there's more than one, which there usually isn't."

Kraj hung his head in apparent shame. "My most profound apologies again, Rose," he muttered. "And lucky indeed am I that Lord M'rek was not here to witness me make another such unfortunate mistake."

"I'm used to dealing with people from other dimensions," Rose said. "So I'm used to the cultural differences. Most people aren't. Even some that should know better."

"You refer to your mate?" Kraj wondered that a female would dare to criticize her mate.

"Amongst others," she responded. But she had a smile when she said it, just from thinking about Spike. "But I guess that his impetuosity is part of his charm, so I'll just have to take the good with the bad. And there's more good than bad anyway."

"I understand few of the customs here, despite my studies," Kraj commented. "Perhaps you will enlighten me."

"I'll do what I can," Rose promised, now resigned to accompanying him all the way to the portal room.

&&&&&&&&&

"Sorry, Spike," Fred said. "But I've got a big fat goose egg as far as analyzing their clothing. It could come from any number of dimensions, just like they do."

Spike smacked his fist into the wall in frustration, then pulled it back, swearing like a sailor. "There's got to be some way to find out where these bastards come from," he muttered. "I know the ones they're still insisting on keeping alive in holding won't be any help, they've got those pathetic sods on I.V.'s just to keep them alive. But these two are pretty fresh. Can't you figure out what they had for breakfast or something? Might give us a clue as to where they came from."

Fred waved a hand at the cadaver. "Be my guest," she offered. "And if you can figure out which one of those bizarre organs is the stomach, let me know, will you? Because their internal arrangements are so radically different from a human's that I haven't got a clue where to begin."

Spike started swearing again, colorfully, inventively, fluently and at length.

&&&&&&&&

Angel had done a great deal of soul-searching, and wasn't it just convenient that he had one to search, and finally decided that he had no choice but to let Rose in on things. It was just getting too awkward, and she was bound to notice that he'd put guards on her sooner or later. Better to tell her in advance than to let her find out on her own and then come to him demanding an explanation. And he'd best tell her in person, too, he thought, so he headed to her office.

When Angel got to Rose's office, she wasn't in, but the lunch sack sitting on her desk suggested that she wouldn't be away long, so he waited, prowling the room like a caged animal. Five minutes crept by, and then ten. When a quarter of an hour had marched slowly by, he figured he'd better try another angle. He went to Wesley's office.

"Wes? Have you got Rose doing anything special that would take her out of her office?" he asked.

"No, I haven't," Wesley replied, feeling a stab of panic. He pushed it down. He didn't yet have enough information to feel the need to panic. He glanced at the time. "I would have thought she'd be on her lunch break about now."

"Her lunch was sitting on her desk," Angel informed him. "But no sign of Rose, and I waited in her office a good fifteen minutes. I can't imagine her being away from her office for that long."

"She is supposed to be doing some walking during her lunch hour," Wesley remarked. "Maybe she wasn't that hungry and decided to get in her exercise first, to work up an appetite."

"Maybe." Angel sounded dubious. "Why don't we go check her office again, just in case that's what it is?" Neither of them commented on why he should feel it necessary for the Watcher to accompany him just to check and see if Rose was in her office.

But Rose's office was still empty, her lunch still untouched. Angel looked at the time. "I can't imagine that she'd spend more than half of her break walking," he remarked. He sounded calm enough, but there was a worried look around his eyes.

"There are still other possibilities," Wes said soothingly, even though he was starting to feel his nerve endings tense. "Lorne and Fred have been taking turns checking on her at noon to make sure she's eating properly. If one of them didn't like the look of what she brought, they may have spirited her away for something a little more nutritious."

Angel pulled out his cell phone. "I'll call Lorne," he said. "You call Fred. If neither of them knows where Rose is, then we start to worry." Actually, he had skipped a step or two. He was already worried, and from the look on Wes' face, so was he.

Wes was still talking when Angel flipped his phone off. Lorne hadn't seen Rose since she'd been in his office with Spike the day before. He looked at the Watcher, and Wesley shook his head.

"Just a moment, Fred," he said. "Spike is there in the lab with Fred. Do you want her to tell him?"

Angel shook his head. "Just tell her that I want her and Spike to meet me in my office. I'll get hold of Lorne again and have him meet us there."

Wesley passed on Angel's instructions quickly, and then called Gunn as well, anticipating the next move. As the two of them went to meet the others, he said quietly. "It's happened, hasn't it? Someone has managed to kidnap Rose."

&&&&&&&

Kraj kept up the flow of talk all the way to the portal room, deftly filling in the empty spaces when it seemed that Rose had nothing to say. As they neared the door, he touched a small signaling device hidden in his robes that would not only open the portal, but would alert the warriors he had waiting to deal with the portal's guards. That done, he found the other item he had hidden, pulled it out and dropped it.

"Oh, you dropped something." Rose noticed it immediately, and habit led her to bend down to pick it up. When she touched the object, she crumpled, and only Kraj's reflexes, and the fact that he had been prepared for it, kept her from hitting the floor. He retrieved the sleeping crystal, taking care not to touch it with his bare hands, then shifting the recumbent form of Rose in his arms, he carried her past the already unconscious guards in the chamber and took his prize home to his Lord.

&&&&&&&

Everyone gathered in Angel's office, with the exception of Spike, had at least some idea of what was going on. No one had had the heart, or the nerve to tell him. Angel could tell that no one had told him because when he and Wes, the last arrivals, got there, Spike was sitting more or less still. Fidgety, but not unduly so. If someone had so much as hinted to him what was going on, he'd be climbing the walls.

"Is this gonna take long?" Spike grumbled. "Because some of us have work to do, and I think I have an idea..,"

They never found out what his idea was, because one look at Angel's face caused him to check out everyone else's visage, and Spike's features began to take on the expression of a hunted animal, that has nowhere to go. He stood and got right up in Angel's face.

"What in the bloody hell is going on?" The words were defiant enough, but Spike's voice was barely above a whisper. It was as if he had figured it out, but didn't want to admit to it, didn't want to hear the words, and maybe that way they wouldn't be true.

"Why don't you sit back down, Spike?" Angel suggested, stalling for time as much as anything. But he did think that it would be better if Spike wasn't on his feet.

Spike ignored the question, and looked around the room again at all assembled. "Here we are," he remarked, his voice taking on tones of hysteria. "All the happy little band. Except for Rose. Where's Rose, Angel?"

Outwardly, Angel kept his calm, but inwardly, he cringed. "We don't know where she is, Spike," he said gently, perhaps more so than he ever had to his high-strung grandchilde.

"But somebody knows where she is," Spike said frantically. "She works for you, Watcher, you must know where she is."

Wesley shook his head, unable to speak. Spike's pain was so overwhelming, so raw, that it seemed that everyone in the room could feel it.

"Fred, you're her friend." Spike turned to the scientist, tones pleading and wheedling, begging her to tell him what he wanted to hear. "You've got to know where she is."

"Spike, you've been with me half the morning," Fred pointed out softly. "If I knew where Rose was, you would too."

Suddenly, Spike rounded on Lorne, and grabbed his lapels and lifted him up on tiptoe. "You saw something yesterday, didn't you?" he accused. "Something besides the fact that the kids are alive and well. You knew this was going to happen. So why didn't you tell me?" He let Lorne go so abruptly that the demon had trouble keeping his balance, then slid down into a chair, face in his hands. "Why didn't someone tell me?"

The discomfort level in the room was maxed out, so they dealt with it by not dealing with it for the moment. Angel turned to Wesley. "Have you found anything in that prophecy that suggests where Rose's attackers might come from?"

"Not yet," Wesley replied. "There are some very obscure, almost allegorical passages that we're still trying to decipher."

"Get on it," Angel ordered. "Gunn, I need you to double check all the background checks on new clients, we've had quite a few lately. Someone must have slipped through the cracks. See if you can find out who it is."

"Will do," Gunn replied.

"Fred, I know that you've done everything that science offers to find out about those guys," Angel said. "Time to try something new. Get some of the psychics up there and see if one of them can find what science missed."

Fred said nothing, but nodded, and laid a gentle hand on Spike's bowed head for a moment in sympathy before she too, left.

"Lorne," Angel hesitated for a moment, but the Pylean was ahead of him.

"Business as usual," Lorne replied. He was starting to feel dizzy from the emotional aftershocks that Spike was radiating even without singing. "I'll start turning over rocks and see if anything crawls out from underneath one."

That left Angel alone with Spike, who hadn't moved a muscle since he'd collapsed into the chair.

"Spike?" When he got no reaction, Angel knelt in front of the chair and pulled Spike's hands away from his face. "Spike, this isn't going to help Rose. I know it's hard..,"

Spike stood so abruptly that he knocked both the chair and Angel over. "You don't know jack shit," he snarled. "How in the hell could you know?" There were tell-tale streaks on his face that suggested that he'd been crying, but he seemed oblivious to the fact. He stood in front of the weapons display on the wall and scrutinized each item, but none of them was quite what he wanted. "Where's the rest?"

"Spike, we have to find her first," Angel pointed out, getting to his feet. That, it turned out, was a bad move. Spike slammed into him and sent him sailing across his own desk.

"Where are the rest of your little toys?" Spike asked again, coming around the desk. "I know you have more than this."

Angel gave up. Spike wasn't ready to listen. Maybe running through the halls of Wolfram and Hart, armed to the teeth and suddenly realizing that he had no one to take it out on would bring a modicum of sanity back to him. He pointed wordlessly to the cabinet which housed the rest of his collection.

Spike yanked the doors of the cabinet off the hinges, and perused the contents, and finally found what he wanted and pulled it out.

"Spike, that's a claymore," Angel said. "It's nearly as big as you are."

"It's a sodding big sword," Spike agreed. He took a few practice passes with it. "This will do." He walked out of the office with the sword resting on his shoulder.


	20. Who Has a Plan?

111

Rose woke in stages, and it wasn't entirely unpleasant, at first. She was laying somewhere comfortable, that was a start. And someone was bathing her, that gave her a pampered, cared for feeling until it occurred to her that something about it didn't feel quite right. It was like the difference between taking care with something because you care about it, or taking care because you had to. This had the latter feel, rather than the former, which certainly would have been the case if it had been Spike ministering to her. Which in itself was silly. Why would Spike be bathing her without waking her up first? It was a struggle, her eyelids felt so heavy, but she finally managed to open them.

The first thing she saw was a ceiling, which seemed in her semi-comatose state to be miles away. Best start small and look at things closer to her. Whoever had been cleaning her up had stopped. Who had been cleaning her up? She lifted her head, with difficulty, it seemed that her whole body was coming to a little bit at a time. There were three women of varying ages, and that was nearly all that she had to go on to tell them apart. There was a great similarity of feature, and their clothes were similarly nondescript. Rose did a full body blush when she realized that she was laying there naked. She tried sitting up, but that was still beyond her capabilities. She groped with a clumsy hand at the covering she was atop of, trying to pull it over her, but one of the women firmly and dispassionately pushed her hand away. Then, they started dressing her. If that was what you wanted to call it.

The actual body covering didn't cover much. Less even, than the bikini that Spike had talked her into. She would have protested, but it was better than being completely bare, although not by much, and her own clothes were nowhere she could see them. Several necklaces were draped around her neck. Bangles of gold on her wrists and ankles, even a gem-encrusted gold belt, although the point of that escaped her. There wasn't anything for the belt to hold up. Ornate earrings, and even gold chains woven through her hair. Rose felt like she must be carrying an extra twenty pounds of weight just from the adornments.

Her mouth was so dry that she couldn't even manage to force out a croak, but with gestures, managed to convey the fact that she was thirsty. One of the women brought a cup and held it to her lips, and Rose, hating being treated like a baby by anyone, except maybe Spike, accepted the treatment because she just wasn't able to do it for herself. The water was lukewarm, and had an odd taste to it, but it was wet, and it wasn't actually vile, so she gulped it down eagerly.

Now she could talk. "Who are you? What are you doing with me? Why am I here?" All the standard questions to which, in all honesty, she really didn't expect answers. At least not straight answers. She did expect some sort of reply, though, and wasn't sure whether to be put out or merely puzzled when she received none.

The women helped her to her feet, and half-carried her along halls and corridors that seemed perhaps even more intricate and vast than they were due to her fuddled wits. At last, she was ushered into what seemed to be some sort of throne room, and it seemed that her attendants were leading her right to the throne itself. Did these silent people think she was some sort of god? If she was going to be some sort of prisoner, at least that would be the lesser of the possible evils.

Rose realized that her theory was far short of the mark when the collar was fastened around her neck and locked. Definitely not a god. But what? Honored prisoner? Houri? She was racking her brains for other potential situations, sitting on the hard, cold stone floor, leaning against the side of the throne when M'rek entered, with Kraj, his ever present shadow.

Rose just stared in wordless horror as M'rek ascended to his throne. "At last you are arrived, my pet," he murmured, reaching down to stroke her hair.

A pet? Why did that send cold shudders down her spine in ways that simply being a prisoner (something with which she had had some little experience) never had?

&&&&&&&&&

Spike strode out of Angel's office and straight back to the lab. He was rattled, no arguing that, but he wasn't just wandering about looking for something or someone to hack apart without an idea where to start.

Fred was busy with the psychics, and he gave her some space, trying to be inconspicuous, or at least, as inconspicuous as you can be when you're carrying a five-foot long sword, but he kept his ears open, just in case one of the psychics said something that could be of use to him. Then he saw Knox, getting ready to file away the intruder's clothing.

"Wait," he ordered. "Did you check the soles of their shoes?"

"No identifying marks that would tie them to any specific location," Knox replied nervously, eyeing the claymore. It really wasn't an inconspicuous weapon.

"What about dirt, anything he might of stepped in?" Spike suggested. "Or were you science geeks so busy checking fabric weaves and how the seams were sewn that it never occurred to you?" Spike had actually listened to Fred's explanations.

Knox' eyes dropped in confused embarrassment. So obvious, how could they have missed it? "Yeah, maybe I ought to check that out," he mumbled.

"How about now?" Spike asked, propping his chin on the hilt of the sword.

"Well, I do have other things to do," Knox hedged, backing up a few steps.

"Not as important as this," Spike assured him. And Knox suddenly found the point of the claymore touching the underside of his chin.

"I see your.., um.., point." Knox swallowed, and winced as his adam's apple touched the tip of the blade drawing forth a crimson droplet of blood.

&&&&&

"As soon as the portents made clear that you were with young, plans have been made to bring you into my possession," M'rek explained, forgetting or just not mentioning that initially his plans had been to have her killed.

This wasn't entirely news to Rose, and although she had felt ill at ease with the canine-like demons, they had always been friendly enough, and she really hadn't thought that they might be the ones after her. But Spike would rescue her, in that she had absolute faith. Spike would find her and rescue her. That helped quell the tremors, a bit. And since there was nothing she could do to get herself out of the situation, she decided to try to make it a little more bearable. "May I please have my clothes?" she asked plaintively.

M'rek sniffed in disdain. "You are adorned in a king's ransom, and yet you would favor the peasant garb you were accustomed to?" he asked. "Make no mistake, Rose, you belong to me. You will wear what I wish you to wear, eat what and when I wish you to eat. Speak or be silent at my will." He tugged at the chain, Rose having moved as far away from him as its length would allow. "Come closer," he ordered, and when she failed to comply immediately, he gave it a sharp pull which dragged her half the distance to him, leaving her knees skinned and oozing blood.

"Disobedience has its price as you can see," M'rek cautioned her. "Now, come near to me, Rose. Sit beside my throne. Obey me and you shall be treated as my most pampered pet. Continue in your insubordination, and you will not live to see your young mature."

Rose got to her feet a bit unsteadily, despite the fact that the effects of whatever they had used to put her to sleep had worn off. This shakiness was entirely due to fear, for herself and her babies. She closed the distance between herself and M'rek's throne under her own power.

M'rek beckoned to Kraj, who shuffled forward and laid a large, overstuffed cushion at his feet. "Sit, Rose," he directed her. And Rose obediently sat. "Much better," M'rek remarked. "And I see that you know how to hold your tongue, a valuable trait in a female, and most especially for you. If you should feel the desire to chatter, remember that you will not die from having your tongue removed like all the other lesser creatures that serve me."

Rose fought back a sniffle and dragged the back of her wrist across her eyes. She was determined that she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry, even though she was scared, alone, and her abused knees throbbed with pain. "What do you intend to do to my babies?" she asked.

"Your young shall be raised in my service, trained to obey me, even as you are now being trained, save that they will know nothing else." M'rek was in a good mood due to Rose's capture, and so was allowing her more leeway than he might under other circumstances. "I may even allow them to keep their tongues."

"Why are you doing this?" Rose had a good idea why, she'd seen enough of the prophecy before she'd been barred from it, but she wanted to hear it from him.

"Vampires, while coming from the lesser races, do have their uses," M'rek replied off-handedly. "And, more to the point, they provide balance in the universe. Good and evil are equally matched. This is as it should be. But a new race of creatures of the night all possessed of souls would bring about chaos."

"You don't think it just might make things better?" Rose ventured timidly. "Balance is for walking a tightrope, not for the forces of good and evil. Sooner or later, one or the other must win out."

M'rek bellowed with laughter, genuinely amused. "What a droll concept, my pet," he remarked. "And how unusual to find a female who at least attempts to understand subjects of such import. But that is none of your concern now, Rose. All that you have to think of now, is taking care of yourself and your young. And the best way you can do that is to remember that you no longer have any will but mine." He exerted upward pressure on the chain until Rose was lifted up to face him. "Let me hear you say it," he ordered.

"I have no will but yours," Rose gasped, and despite her resolve, a tear trickled down her cheek.

"Poor, little, helpless thing," M'rek said sympathetically. "Kraj, send for a veterinarian to tend to her knees."

&&&&&&&

"There is something here," Knox said, squinting into the microscope. "I've never seen anything like it before, it might be key in finding out where they come from." He turned and starting tapping at the keys of a computer keyboard. A display of the molecular components of the substance sprang to life on the screen. "Now," Knox muttered, half to himself. "We just run this through Wolfram and Hart's database and see if anyone has entered it in before." He looked at Spike nervously, even though Spike had stood patiently by while he worked. He still had the sword, and Knox started breaking out in a sweat again just looking at it. "You do realize that if this isn't in the database, there's nothing else I can do, don't you?"

Spike caressed the hilt of his sword. "Then you'd bloody well better hope it's in that database, hadn't you, Poindexter?" he asked in the mildest of tones.

Knox watched the computer screen with his fingers surreptitiously crossed. Soul or not, evidently you still didn't mess around with a vampire. He hadn't been around them much, but he really didn't see that much difference between Spike and Angel than the rest of the vampires on the staff. He felt a rivulet of moisture trickle down the length of his spine, perspiration from being scared shitless. He heaved a sigh of relief when the computer search hit pay-dirt. "We have a hit," he informed Spike. He started jotting down information. "Here's the dimension where that substance originates. Do you want me to ask Fred to tell Angel about it, or are you going to do it yourself?"

"Neither one," Spike replied, snatching the paper from his hand. He reached across Knox and started tapping at the computer keys himself, deleting everything that had just been entered. "You just keep your gob shut, science-boy. At least until tomorrow."

"Wait a minute," Knox began to protest. The sword swung threateningly in his direction again. "Tomorrow it is," he gulped.

&&&&&&&

"Sorry, Angel, but the psychics came up with zilch," Fred said. "They said our corpses had some kind of magical barrier around them that prevented them from being read. They can undo it, but it will take a couple of days."

"You did get them started on it though, didn't you?" Angel asked. He hated this, being all keyed up and pissed off and no one to hit.

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "Do you know what Spike is up to?"

"The last I saw of Spike, he was marching out of here with a claymore and an attitude," Angel replied wearily. "He wasn't too keen on listening to anything I had to say at the time. I expect that he'll be back when he realizes that he doesn't have a clue where to start."

"I wonder," Fred mused. "While I was busy with the psychics, Spike was in the lab talking to my assistant. He spent quite a while there. It looked like he was having Knox analyze something from the attackers clothing, which is kind of stupid, because we already went over them with a fine-toothed comb."

That brought Angel up short. He'd expected that Spike would stalk around breathing fire and brimstone for a while, then come back here and be a royal pain in the ass until they had some notion of where to find Rose. Spike actually thinking and maybe coming up with a plan gave him a full out case of the wiggins. "Is Knox still here?" he asked.

"He was when I left the lab," Fred replied. "Do you want to talk to him?"

"Yes, I do," Angel said grimly. "I want to know everything he and Spike talked about, even if it was just the weather."

&&&&&&&&

"The joints are not badly damaged," the veterinarian informed M'rek while he smeared a soothing ointment on them. "But I see that your new pet is with young. Would you like me to examine her?"

"Yes," M'rek agreed. "A sound notion. I acquired her because of her pregnancy, and I would be most displeased if something were to go wrong."

"Of course, I have no knowledge of this particular breed," the vet remarked. "Have you any idea of their gestation period and how far along she is?"

"Rose?" Just her name. She hadn't yet spoken in front of the vet, but now, apparently, she was being ordered to do so.

"Nine months for gestation," she said quietly. "And I'm about half-way along."

The vet rocked back on his haunches in shock. "She speaks?"

"At the moment, it amuses me that she should do so," M'rek replied. "And, as you can see, the ability has its uses."

"Indeed," the vet muttered, still in a daze. "And do you have any idea of how many young you carry?"

"Two," Rose replied, trying to keep her voice from squeaking, she was that near to tears. "The doctor couldn't tell yet, but Spike and Angel said they heard two heartbeats."

The veterinarian looked inquiringly at M'rek, who explained to him. "Vampires," he commented. "She had been in association with them. And they do have excellent hearing."

"I see," murmured the vet, who really didn't see at all. "Well, she certainly seems to be healthy enough for littering. Would your Lordship like me to monitor her on a regular basis throughout her gestation?"

"Yes," M'rek replied in musing tones. "I believe that I would." He looked down at Rose dotingly. "I do believe in taking good care of my pets."


	21. Half the Fun

115

Spike was half-way to the portal room when it occurred to him that the information he'd acquired was completely useless to him without someone who could open a portal. He started mentally running through the people he knew who could, and more to the point, would open a portal for him.

Wesley, he was pretty sure, had the know-how. But the Watcher was also so duty-struck that he probably wouldn't do it without Angel's say-so. Probably wouldn't blow his bloody nose without Angel's say-so. Add to that that Percy was a bit tougher than he looked. Spike doubted that he could intimidate him into it.

That left one of the witches on staff. Spike knew most of them by sight, but few of them by name. And of those few, that was about all he knew. And the day was getting on. Most people would be packing it in for home soon.

Desperation measures were called for, then.

Luck, the fates, or perhaps even The Powers themselves were on Spike's side, for as he turned a corner, there was one of the handful of witches he actually knew by name.

"Hello, Zelda." He flashed her a charming smile. "Sorry I haven't got time to do this nicely, but I need a portal opened now, and you're going to do it for me."

Zelda licked her lips nervously. The claymore seemed to have that effect on people. "We're supposed to have authorization from Angel before we open a portal," she murmured. Her eyes hadn't left the sword for a moment.

"My buddy Angel, who I'm currently rooming with?" Spike asked. Bloody hell, he was going to have to wash his own mouth out with soap to get the taste of that lie out of it.

"You are, aren't you?" The law firm was, to all intents and purposes, a small town. News got around and it got around fast. Her eyes were still riveted on the claymore.

"'S'right," Spike drawled. "Do you think I really need that authorization, Angel and me bein' such good pals and all?" God, it was hard to keep a straight face.

"I suppose not," Zelda replied, still eyeballing the weapon. "Which dimension do you need a portal to?"

&&&&&&&&

Knox was preparing to leave when his cell phone rang. Out of habit, he checked where the incoming call originated. Fred. His boss. That was good. And he was about to answer until he remembered that the last time he'd seen Fred, she'd been on her way to Angel's office. Knox was no slouch in the brains department, but Fred was so smart that even he was in awe. No doubt she'd managed to add two and two and now she and the chief executive vampire wanted to ask him where Spike had gone. A nanosecond's thought and he decided that he really didn't want to be caught in an argument between two vampires. He tossed the still ringing phone into his desk drawer and beat a hasty retreat for home.

&&&&&&&&

Kraj was feeling put out. So far, M'rek had not offered so much as a syllable of praise for his success in gaining him possession of the vessel. And practically ever since her arrival, all M'rek had done was fuss over and pamper his new acquisition. It irked him no end to think his loyalty and devotion were to receive no reward while the demon bitch became a fawned over favorite simply because she was going to whelp. It wasn't fair.

&&&&&&&

"He isn't answering," Fred muttered in frustration. "Do you want me to keep trying?"

Angel shook his head and called security. "Can you locate me Knox from R & D?" he asked. "Oh he did. When? No, that will be all, thank you." He turned to look at Fred. "According to security he left the building about five minutes ago."

"But I've been trying to get hold of him for at least ten," Fred protested. "So why isn't he..," Her voice trailed off as she realized why he wasn't.

"Spike." Angel spat the name out like it tasted bad. "Dammit, that bleached blonde moron is going to get himself, Rose and their kids killed."

"That's not going to help," Fred pointed out. "But if Spike does think he knows where Rose is, where would he go next?"

"The portal room," Angel answered, heading for the door. "Fred, round up the rest of the guys and meet me there. I'll go talk to the portal guards and find out if Spike's used it, and if he did, who was stupid enough to open a portal for him."

&&&&&&&

Zelda pressed a small object into Spike's hand. "This is for retrieval," she informed him. "When you are ready to return, press the button and the portal will re-open to bring you back."

"Thanks, Zelda, you're a pet." Spike shouldered his sword again and walked into the swirling vortex of the portal.

Zelda watched Spike go and shook her head. She knew what Spike was up to. As had been remarked before, news traveled fast at the law firm, and something as sensational as the disappearance of Rose and subsequently finding the portal guards unconscious had made the rounds within the hour. Nor was she as gullible as Spike supposed. Enough of the staff had heard him and Angel snapping and snarling at each other to know there was little love lost between them. He really hadn't had to lie to her. She'd have opened the portal for him anyway, she was a hopeless romantic herself. She sighed. She'd better leave now, she decided. Otherwise it was very likely that people, or more to the point, a vampire, in high places would be looking for her to ask some questions that Spike wouldn't want her answering just yet. She mumbled a spell, and disappeared from sight.

&&&&&&&

Rose was starting to feel hollow inside, even though on a purely psychological level, she didn't feel like eating. She thought of her uneaten lunch sitting on her desk, and wondered how long it would take someone to notice that she was gone. She also didn't like the idea of having to ask M'rek for anything. But she had the well-being of her children to think of, and that should outweigh any other considerations. She was sitting quietly on her cushion while M'rek was barking orders to this flunky and that. Evidently he had some sort of party in the works to celebrate her capture. She waited as patiently as she could until there was a gap in the procession of underlings and instructions.

"May I have permission to speak, my Lord?" she asked, head carefully bowed. She didn't want to do anything to offend him.

"Look at me, Rose," M'rek commanded. When she lifted her head, he answered. "Speak as you wish, for the moment."

"I was just about to eat my noon meal when Kraj brought me here," Rose said slowly. "I haven't had anything to eat since I got up this morning." An embarrassingly loud rumble from her stomach verified that she was indeed hungry.

"You should have said something sooner," M'rek chided gently. "You must think of your young, Rose." A loud bark brought a servant running. "Fetch a meal fit for a whelping bitch," he directed. "And make all due haste." He turned back to Rose, who had bowed her head again as if contemplating the stones of the floor. "Where do you come from, Rose?"

Rose's head jerked up in surprise. She'd forgotten that M'rek had his own copy of the prophecy. But since he wanted her children alive, he wouldn't kill her anytime soon. Not before Spike could rescue her. She thought she could put up with a certain amount of pain, if needs be to keep her secret. "From Los Angeles," she replied, sounding mystified.

M'rek clicked his tongue and shook his head. "I think you know well enough that is not what I mean, Rose," he warned. "The prophecy says that the vessel shall come from beyond worlds. I want to know where that is."

"Prophecy?" Rose decided to pretend to ignorance as much as she could. "What prophecy?"

"The prophecy that says you will have young when it should be impossible, mated as you are to a vampire," M'rek snapped. "You cannot be entirely ignorant of it. You would certainly not have been so well guarded if those around you were not aware of the prophecy."

Rose privately thought that she would have been that well guarded, but explaining that to M'rek would probably lead to the very area she was trying to decoy him away from. She was given a bit more grace time by the servant rushing back with her meal.

M'rek took the dish from the servant, and began hand-feeding her as he had done the night when she and the two vampires had been his guests. Rose was even less comfortable with it now than she had been then, but M'rek had been right about one thing. She had to think about her children, and if that meant accepting food from the demon's hand, then, so be it. She just hoped that the meal would be distraction enough to make him forget his line of inquiry.

M'rek had not forgotten. Before the dish was half-emptied, he returned to the conversation. "You still have not answered my question to my satisfaction, Rose," he remarked in tones that were quiet yet menacing. "If you cannot make good use of your tongue, I may decide that you no longer have need of it."

Rose decided to go ahead and tell him the truth. After all, it wasn't like he could go there, and telling him where she came from was not exactly the same thing as telling him what she had been. "It's.., it's very hard to explain," she mumbled, realizing that telling the truth wasn't going to be that easy either. "It isn't really a place at all. It just is."

M'rek's eyes narrowed as he regarded her. The answer told him absolutely nothing, but on the other hand, one could hardly expect intelligent answers from a lesser species. That she was able to speak as intelligently as she did was little short of a marvel to him. He would have to put some thought into it. Perhaps what was required was the right questions. He started thinking about what the right questions might be, as he continued to feed his new pet.

&&&&&&&

Angel was almost to the portal room when he felt something brush past him. He turned and looked behind him, but all he saw was the empty hallway. But was it? He stopped using his eyes, there obviously wasn't anything for him to see, and sniffed the air. Someone had been here, and within the last few moments. He followed the scent down the hall, around a corner and down another hall. He thought he was almost on whoever or whatever it was when he entered a new corridor, and a gaggle of giggling females from the secretarial pool passed by, and he lost the scent as it mingled with theirs. Damn.

Temporarily defeated, he retraced his steps back to the portal room. The guards snapped to attention when he entered.

"Has anyone used this portal recently?" he asked them. "Most specifically, has Spike been through here?"

"Just a few minutes ago," one of the guards confirmed. Seeing the look on Angel's face, he asked. "Wasn't he supposed to be here? I mean, he had a witch with him to open the portal. We didn't think anyone would do anything like that without your authorization, sir."

"And I don't suppose that you noticed the big, sharp piece of metal he had with him?" Angel said suggestively. "In the right circumstances, that sort of thing can buy an awful lot of cooperation."

"We just thought he was going to need it wherever he was going," the other guard filled in. "If we had known he didn't have the proper authorization we would have..," His voice suddenly trailed away as he tried to think of what he and his partner could have done to stop a determined vampire with a five-foot sword.

"Did you recognize the witch that opened the portal for him?" Angel inquired. He wasn't going to blame them for not trying to stop Spike. The mood that Spike was in, he'd have probably hacked them to ribbons before he remembered that he had a soul.

"Oh sure, it was Zelda," the first guard replied. "But she didn't act like she was being forced into it, sir. That's one of the reasons that we didn't question it."

Angel pulled out his cell phone as the rest of his team began to assemble in the portal room. "Security, I need one of the staff witches, name of Zelda. If she isn't still in the building, try her at home. I need to consult with her."

&&&&&&

Spike emerged from the portal trying to look in all directions at once. But his luck held, the area was deserted. And he recognized it from his previous visit. Dog-boy's place. He'd thought that uppity mutt had been getting too familiar with Rose, and now, he knew why. He gave the hilt of the sword a fond pat. Time for some payback. And, far more importantly, time to get Rose and take her back where she belonged. With him.

&&&&&&&&

Fred went over to a computer console that was set into the wall and began clicking away.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked. He still wasn't used to the way Wolfram and Hart casually mixed magic and technology. Somehow, it just didn't seem right.

"This system logs all portals, both incoming and outgoing," Fred explained. "It can't open the portal, we haven't worked out a program that will do that, yet. But we can track them." The images on the screen flickered and changed. "There it is," she said with satisfaction. "The last outgoing portal went to.., uh-oh."

Angel definitely didn't like the sound of that one. "Where, Fred?" he demanded.

"You know that new client we had lunch with the other week?" Fred asked. "You know, the one when Spike hit the client's servant. That's the dimension that the portal opened to. Lord M'rek's dimension."

"Shit." The single syllable was spoken with depth and feeling. "And that's where Spike has gone?"

"It looks that way," Fred replied. "But if we're going to follow him, we still need someone to open a portal."

All eyes turned to Wesley. "It looks like I'm on," he remarked mildly. "Luckily, I came prepared."


	22. Everything's Gonna Be All Right

118

M'rek had at least temporarily given up on Rose's origins and was trying to understand how things worked at Wolfram and Hart. Rose wasn't sure she understood herself, but she did her level best. The thought of having her tongue cut out haunted her.

"I understand there is even one of those revolting Pyleans laboring there," M'rek remarked. "Whatever sort of value could it possibly have?"

Rose forgot all about meek and subservient at hearing her friend maligned. "Lorne isn't revolting at all," she burst out, thinking that she found his Lordship much more off-putting. "He's very sweet. He heads up the entertainment division, although I'm not quite sure what that entails. And he does employee screenings."

"Screenings?" The jackal-like demon prompted.

"He can tell things about people when they sing for him," she explained. A wistful sigh escaped her. "He loves to hear me sing."

"What is singing?" The more Rose told him, the more lost M'rek felt. He hadn't realized just how far removed their cultures were.

Rose thought of various ways to describe singing, but in the end decided that a practical demonstration would be the most effective method. "'People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one, and we've just begun, think I'm gonna have a son..,'" It seemed fairly appropriate.

&&&&&&&&

Kraj was walking down the hall, muttering to himself in a fit of the sulks. "Not so much as a 'well done, Kraj'," he grumbled. "I cater to his every whim, I acquire the vessel of the prophecy for him and what thanks do I get? None at all. He doesn't even know that I'm here. But that little demon bitch must be catered to and attended to as though she were a member of his household." He stopped dead in his tracks as a long, sharp blade appeared under his chin.

"I believe I've warned you about calling Rose a bitch," Spike remarked, stepping out of the shadows. "Now why don't you be a good dog and tell me where your boss is holding her."

Kraj gulped in fear. "Are you going to kill me?" he whimpered.

"Probably," Spike allowed. "Almost certainly, really. 'Course whether you go fast or slow depends on how helpful you are." He raised the sword blade a little higher, so that Kraj had to lift himself up on tip-toe to avoid having his throat slit.

"That way," Kraj whispered, pointing a shaking finger. "Lord M'rek's throne room is straight down this corridor, and that is where he is keeping her." His fear-glazed eyes slid down the length of the blade, at least, what he could see of it, till they got to Spike. "Please don't..," He never finished his plea for his life.

Spike looked at the gore-covered blade, then thoughtfully wiped it on Kraj's clothing. Now, on to get Rose.

&&&&&&&

"Fred, Lorne, I want you to stay here," Angel said. "I want somebody on this end that can send in the cavalry if something goes wrong."

"Sure thing, big guy," Lorne assured him. He wasn't the number one person you'd pick to back you up in a fight, and he knew it. While he didn't like standing on the sidelines when it was somebody he cared about, he was realistic enough to know that he could be more of a liability than an asset, and that his best shot at helping Rose had already been taken.

Fred didn't look happy, but didn't argue. She stood there silently, watching Wesley opening the portal.

Once the portal was opened, Angel and Gunn went right on through, but Wesley stopped for a moment, turned around and kissed Fred fiercely before joining the others.

As soon as they hit the other side, Angel started issuing new orders. "Wes, I want you to stay here. When we're done, we may need that portal opened in a hurry, and I want you ready to go." Wes gave him the same look that Fred had given him, but nodded. "Gunn, you're with me."

&&&&&&&&

As Spike neared the door to the throne room, he heard a familiar voice, and of all the things, he expected, singing wasn't on the list. He stopped and listened.

"'..,and in the morning when I rise, bring a tear of joy to my eyes and tell me everything's gonna be all right.'" Rose finished the song. She would have stopped after the first verse, but M'rek had nodded at her to go on until she had sung the entire song.

Outside the door, Spike muttered, "Everything's gonna be all right, babe. Promise." He was going to make a grand show and kick the door open, but the size of it suggested that trying would not only be foolish, but painful. He was going to have to open the door and walk in, just like everyone else.

&&&&&&&

"I'd say that Spike has been this way," Gunn remarked, pointing out a couple of unconscious bodies laying on the floor.

Angel nodded. You didn't even have to follow the scent when tracking Spike, just follow the trail of bodies that he inevitably seemed to leave behind.

&&&&&&&

Spike sauntered into M'rek's throne room as though he belonged there. He was a little miffed that he was half-way across the vast chamber before his entrance was noted.

M'rek was lost in thought, trying to digest the information he'd taken in, as well as trying to decide whether or not he liked that love-struck wailing that Rose had referred to as singing. He decided that he did. It might even prove enough of a novelty that it would pay to let her keep her tongue.

Rose was kneeling quietly on her cushion, eyes downcast, wishing, oh so many things. That M'rek would stop quizzing her and leave her be. That she could stop being so scared. That she could be in the one place where, above all others, she felt safe. In Spike's arms.

Spike took in the scene, especially Rose, kneeling there at the demon's feet, looking so servile that if he had started cooling down again, it would have brought him right back to a full boil. No one treated Rose like that. "Bad dog." His voice echoed around the chamber.

M'rek was jerked abruptly from his contemplations. A vampire approaching him with a weapon in his hands? How dare he? Another look confirmed that it was the second of the souled ones. Rose's mate. With a barking laugh, he looped a coil of Rose's chain around his paw, despite the fact that the instant she had seen Spike, Rose had quietly gone to the farthest reaches her chain would allow.

"Stop there, vampire," M'rek ordered, holding up the hand that had Rose's chain twined around it. "Quick as you are, I am much closer to her than you are. Do you wish to gamble with her life? For I will see her dead before I see her pass from my possession."

"I think you don't have the slightest bloody idea just how fast a vampire can be," Spike remarked. Even Rose had to admit that she'd never seen him move so quickly. Suddenly, the slack came back into her chain, as it dropped to the floor, still wrapped around M'rek's hand. Except that the paw-like appendage was no longer attached to M'rek's body. Spike was already back in his original position.

M'rek howled in pain, but despite the fact that he was bleeding profusely, he leapt to his feet to go on the attack. He rushed at Spike.

The whole thing moved faster than Rose's eyes could take in. All that she could be sure of was that one minute, she saw the demon charging at Spike, and the next, she saw the point of a sword emerge from the top of his head.

If Spike hadn't been so serious about the whole thing he might have laughed at M'rek's advance. The demon may have thought he could match a vampire for speed, but to Spike, he looked like he was moving in slow motion. Or maybe it was just the adrenaline rush that Spike was experiencing. Be that as it may, Spike merely stood, sword not even poised for action as the jackal-faced creature ran at him. Then, at the last possible moment, he raised it, point up, to go up under M'rek's ribcage and come out the top of his head.

&&&&&&&

"It's Kraj," Gunn whispered, pointing.

"It was Kraj," Angel corrected him. The slit throat explained the pool of blood around the corpse, but where did the bloodstains on his clothing come from? He closed his eyes for a moment, blocking out extraneous information. Then, it dawned on him, and he gave a humorless laugh. "Neatness counts, I guess."

"What?" Gunn was totally in the dark.

"Spike wiped off the blade of the sword." Angel pointed to the bloody trails on Kraj's clothing. "Maybe he just thought I'd be pissed if he let my good blade get etched by blood."

Gunn shook his head. "I don't think Spike really cares about anyone being pissed off right now," he observed. "Except maybe for him."

Angel nodded. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel a little redundant here," he muttered. "Let's hope it stays that way."

The mighty form of M'rek started to topple. And his momentum had been in Spike's direction, and was greater than that of the sword-thrust, so his body continued to fall that way. Towards Spike. "Oh bloody hell," Spike growled. He put some muscle into it and managed to swing the body around so that it fell to the side of him, and not on him. Also, not on the claymore. He could foresee needing it again before he got Rose out of here.

Rose watched, tears raining down her cheeks. From fear, for Spike, for her children and for herself. From relief that Spike was here to rescue her. Other things too, but those were the main ones.

Spike was trying to wrestle the blade out of M'rek's body, but it was wedged in good, having gone through the skull. He was tussling with it single-mindedly, until a hiccupping sob caught his attention. Suddenly, the sword didn't seem important at all, and he was the rest of the way across the room, taking Rose in his arms. Holding her, stroking her hair, raining kisses on her tear-streaked face.

"Everything's gonna be all right, babe," he repeated.

"It is now," Rose whispered back through the tears. She rested her head on his shoulder and just let them flow, since they refused to be denied, and basked in the warm glow of Spike's love for her.

&&&&&&&&

Angel and Gunn entered the throne room, and paused a moment to take in the sights. Angel gave a put-upon sigh seeing where his sword was. The blade was probably going to be all nicked up now.

"Rose and Blondie Bear snuggling," Gunn remarked with a touch of sarcasm. "What a surprise."

Angel at last wrested the sword from M'rek's body, causing the still-warm blood to gush out now that there was nothing there to plug the hole. Then, he spared a glance for the lovebirds and felt his own blood begin to boil seeing the chain that tethered Rose to M'rek's throne. And, since his blade was already dinged up, he didn't have a problem with added a few more nicks to it. He strode past the oblivious lovers and brought the sword down on the chain, severing it. He tapped Spike on the shoulder. "Why don't we get the hell out of here?" he suggested.

&&&&&&&

"What do you think, princess?" Lorne asked. "Do we start panicking yet?"

"It hasn't been much more than an hour yet, Lorne," Fred replied, chewing on a fingernail. She was feeling as tense as he was, but was fighting not to show it.

&&&&&&&

Wesley heard footsteps approaching, and prepared to duck out of sight, until he heard the accompanying voices. Then, he relaxed.

Spike, carrying Rose in his arms like a baby was in the vanguard, with Angel and Gunn trailing behind, Angel carrying the claymore that Spike had appropriated from him.

Rose was mostly past the teary stage, with just the occasional leftover sniffle. "He threatened to cut out my tongue," she mumbled. Both she and Spike were liberally spattered with M'rek's blood.

"Hey Watcher," Spike called. "Do you happen to have a handy spell to resurrect the dead? Because I think I'd like you to raise dog-boy for me. I want to kill him again, 'cept this time I'll do it a lot slower." He cuddled Rose closer, if that were possible. He kissed her forehead and murmured teasingly, "I wouldn't have liked that at all, luv. Happens that your tongue is one of my favorite parts of your body."

As Rose blushed crimson, Gunn muttered. "Will you guys give me a break? That definitely belongs in the too much information category."

Wesley grinned and said, "Sorry, Spike, but I happen to be right out of resurrection spells at the moment. I guess you're going to have to settle for having killed him just once."

Angel looked at his dented claymore and grumbled half-heartedly. "Once was enough. Look what the dumb shit did to my sword."

&&&&&&&&&

Lorne and Fred heaved a mutual sigh of relief as the portal shimmered open and everyone stepped through. Fred ran and threw her arms around Wesley, who put aside his British reserve for the moment to kiss her, despite the fact that they were surrounded by other people.

Lorne knew that he wasn't going to be able to get so much as a hug from Rose the way she and Spike were twined together, so he just settled for beaming benevolently at them all.


	23. Cravings

126

It had taken a little bit of talking to lose their retinue. Everyone had been anxious to see that Rose was all right. Angel allowed himself a brief uncharitable moment to wonder if they would ever get used to Rose being abducted. Or if maybe, and he hardly dared to hope this, that the kidnappings, for no matter what reason, would stop.

Spike finally deigned to let Rose stand on her own two feet once they got to the apartment. He was giving her a very thorough visual inspection and was about to comment in the form of a wolf whistle when something else caught his attention. "What happened to your knees, babe?"

"I fell?" Rose could have kicked herself for the way it came out. No sense in getting Spike all worked up again. M'rek was dead and no longer available for Spike to take his feelings out on.

"Mm-hmm." Spike didn't sound very convinced, and he wasn't, but he was glad enough to have her back that he wasn't going to make an issue of it. "Guess we ought to see about getting that bloody collar off you then, luv."

"Allow me." Angel produced a set of lock picks and made short work of it. In answer to the sidelong looks he was receiving, he mumbled, "It was a crummy lock. I probably could have broken it open with my hands, but I didn't want to hurt Rose."

"Someone already has," Spike remarked softly. "Look at her poor neck." Rose's neck had raw welts from the times M'rek had jerked on her chain to spur her into moving. Spike felt his temper rise again. "Bloody damned cur," he snarled. "I knew I killed the bastard too fast."

"It's all over now, love," Rose soothed, then changed the subject. "Right now, I think I'd like to get cleaned up and into some proper clothes. And eat," she added, even though it hadn't been all that long since she'd eaten. "Right now, I think I'd kill for a pizza."

Spike frowned momentarily, but then it passed. "Whatever you want, sweetheart," he said indulgently. "I guess once in a while can't hurt."

Angel pulled out his cell phone. "What do you want on your pizza, Rose?"

Rose thought a moment, then held out her hand for the phone. "I think I'd better order it myself," she replied. "That way I'll only have to explain it once."

&&&&&&&

Rose reflected that it had been a good thing when she'd ordered the pizza for an hour off. Getting cleaned up and changed took longer than she had anticipated. Part of it had to do with arguing with Spike over the abbreviated costume she'd been put into. Spike was all for keeping it. Even Rose pointing out that the bloodstains would be difficult, if not downright impossible to get out hadn't deterred him, she should have known better than to try to put a vampire off with a few bloodstains. Finally, she had won out by simply saying that hell would freeze over before she wore the damned thing again. Evidently her use of two swear words in one sentence had gotten his attention. But then, while they were showering, Spike began to get amorous ideas, surprise, and she only put him off that for the moment by looking piteous and saying that she was really hungry, and her pizza would get cold.

They actually did get out into the main room before the pizza did. At least, Spike did. He was feeling a little sulky at not having gotten his way about anything, but was trying to hide it. The delivery was made while Rose was still brushing out her hair.

Spike was flipping through the book of names again. Going to have to make some decisions on that score sooner or later. Suddenly, his nose wrinkled up. "Do you smell something?" he asked Angel, who had his face buried in the evening paper.

Angel sniffed and made a similar face. "What in the hell is that reek?" he muttered. "It smells like its coming from..,"

He was interrupted by a knock at the door. It was someone from security, with Rose's pizza, since after the last time, delivery persons were no longer allowed this far into the building. The smell which had so offended the two vampires seemed to be coming from the pizza box.

"What do you suppose she got on it that smells so bad?" Angel mused aloud. "I honestly don't see her eating this. I'm about to hurl myself."

Spike gave a snort of laughter. "You should've seen that damn sandwich she made just before we moved in here. Everything but the kitchen sink on it." He sniffed again. "It didn't smell as bad as that, though."

Rose emerged from the bedroom. "Oh good," she remarked. "My pizza is here."

"What did you get on it, Rose?" Angel was dying of curiosity.

Rose took the box from him and went into the kitchen with it, and both Spike and Angel followed, despite the reek. "Everything," she said, sounding just a bit evasive.

"Pizza with the works don't smell like that," Spike commented.

"I mean, everything they have," Rose explained, suddenly looking a little shy. "They have peanut butter and jelly pizzas, and taco pizzas and those barbeque chicken and pineapple pizzas, so I got all of that plus the regular stuff on it." She dished up a piece and the two vampires watched incredulously as she actually took a bite and even got it down. She sat in thought for a moment. "They forgot the anchovies," she complained, then shrugged and went on eating.

Angel and Spike looked at each other, shook their heads and left the kitchen. They didn't think they could stand to watch her eat that.

&&&&&&&

Rose slept restlessly that night, and Spike wasn't sure if he was more inclined to blame it on her eventful day or that godawful pizza she'd consumed. But he was knackered, and finally, he dropped off soundly enough that even her tossing and turning didn't disturb him the way it normally would.

Rose opened her eyes, and saw that it was still the middle of the night. But she couldn't sleep. She wanted something, she wasn't sure what. She just knew that she was thirsty. She slipped out of bed and was mildly surprised that it didn't wake Spike. She tiptoed out to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door and waited for something to appeal to her. Something finally did. She poured it out, warmed it up and drank it down, being sure to thoroughly wash her cup. Then, she slid back into bed beside Spike and went soundly to sleep.

&&&&&&&

Rose woke with a start, feeling that something was wrong. At first assessment, nothing was. She was safe and sound, in bed, with Spike wrapped around her like a protective covering. But something seemed not quite right. A glance at the clock confirmed her suspicions. It was already mid-morning and way past time to be at work. She started the process of disentangling herself from Spike, but found that he wasn't having any of it.

"The ponce gave us the day off, pet," he murmured in her ear. "Figured you could use some time to unwind. Me too, for that matter."

"When was this decided?" Rose asked, trying to decide whether or not to get mad. "I don't recall hearing anything about it."

"While you were eating," Spike explained, suppressing a shudder. He hoped that pizza wasn't going to become a habit. "Not like we could sit there and watch you eat that ghastly stuff."

Rose felt a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth and gave up on mad. It would be more effort than she wanted to go to. "So you figured that you'd just spring it on me rather than argue it out?"

"Easier," Spike mumbled His hands started roaming over her suggestively. "'Spose I could interest you in..,"

Rose grabbed his wrists while she could still think. "Could you hold that thought, darling?" she asked. "Your children are wiggling around on top of my bladder. I have to go to the bathroom."

&&&&&&&&

"Hello, Angel."

Angel looked up and was less than pleased to see the sultry brunette that had only ever been introduced to them as Eve. "What do you want, Eve?" he said as dismissively as possible. He never had had much use for their liaison with the senior partners.

"I'm here to do you a favor, Angel," Eve replied, pouting slightly. "How would you like to have your apartment all to yourself and still not have to worry about Rose's safety?"

That got Angel's attention. "Why would the senior partners care about Rose's safety?" he asked cautiously. As far as he knew, and he would be the first to admit that what he knew about the senior partners didn't go far, they didn't know about Rose.

"You don't think they don't have their own copies of all the prophecies?" Eve queried. "They still haven't figured out quite where Rose comes from, but they've been watching her since her arrival. And now, being in the center of a major prophecy, they thought it might be a good idea to..,"

"Hedge their bets?" Angel suggested. "So when are you going to get to the part that I don't like?"

"I don't think there's going to be one this time," Eve replied. "But I can't just tell you, I'm going to have to show you." When he made no move to get up, she added, "Or do you really want the pitter-patter of little feet at your place? Not to mention Spike as a perpetual houseguest?"

Against his better judgment, Angel got up and followed her. It wasn't like he had actually agreed to anything. Yet. It couldn't hurt to see what she was offering this time.

They got in his private elevator and went down a floor. Eve guided him through hallways half-way across the building. There was what appeared to be another private elevator. "What the hell?" Angel muttered.

They got in the elevator, and Eve pushed a button. "There has always been an apartment set aside for the senior partners when they feel like dropping in," she explained. "For one thing, they don't think they're going to feel like dropping in on you, and for another..," The elevator door opened. "It's bigger than your place. About right for four people, really."

They stepped out into a suite of rooms that made Angel's place look almost like a broom closet. He looked around. Of course, he'd have to have his people go over it with a fine-toothed comb, just to make sure that the senior partners weren't up to something. But this, this would provide ample room for Spike and Rose and their growing family.

"How come I was never told that this was here?" Angel inquired.

Eve shrugged. "It was never thought necessary, I guess," she answered. "The senior partners are going to charge them a nominal rent, for form's sake. But they're also going to authorize funds for remodeling the place however Rose and Spike see fit."

"So what's the catch?" Angel always treaded warily where the senior partners were concerned. They couldn't possibly be doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, since goodness was totally foreign to them. He wasn't sure about the hearts, either. And there just had to be a catch, there always was.

Again with the shrug. "As far as I know, that's it," she replied. "Rose is a mystery to them. But she and Spike figure in a major prophecy, and they feel that it would be in their best interests to extend their protection to them until it seems best to do otherwise."

Angel hesitated. He wouldn't trust the senior partners as far as he could throw the whole damn building. But the thought of not having Spike under his roof, ever again, was incredibly appealing. On the other hand, there was the thought of getting Spike out of his apartment. Somehow, that thought just stuck in his mind.

"I'll be wanting my people to check the place out," he muttered. Getting Spike the hell out of his apartment.

"The partners figured that," Eve said. "And I should point out that the place is warded against practically anything you could possibly think of. They'd be safer here than at your place."

"Let me see it in writing," Angel responded as firmly as he could. "In plain English, too, not legalese. I want every last detail spelled out, down to the rent they expect Spike and Rose to pay."

"I'll have the papers in your office tomorrow," Eve promised. "In the meantime, here's the keys. So your people can start running their checks." She turned and left him standing there, assuming that he could find his own way back to familiar territory.

&&&&&&

Angel refrained mentioning the senior partner's offer to Rose and Spike when he got home that night. He didn't want to get their hopes up until the place had been scoped out from top to bottom. And that was happening. For everything from listening devices and hidden cameras to traps and spells. So far, it was checking out okay, but it would still take a couple of days to finish up. But he felt whipped right now. He barely acknowledged Rose's greeting and headed straight to the kitchen for a cup of his staple beverage. Moments later, he was back in the living area, glaring at Spike.

"Spike, what in the hell were you doing drinking up all the blood?" he growled. "There should have been another day's worth in there at least."

"Wasn't that much when I got up," Spike declared. "There probably wasn't as much in there as you thought."

"It was a full container last night," Angel said. "I didn't have any this morning, I waited until I got to the office. So do you want to tell me just how it disappeared? Seeing as how there's only you and me using the stuff? Or are you going to try to tell me that Rose drank it?"

"As if," Spike hooted. "Why don't you just admit that you don't know what in hell you're talking about, as usual, and ring up for some more." He looked to Rose for support and was surprised to see that she was sitting there like she was trying to look smaller than she was. And more than a bit guilty. "Babe, you didn't..," He was too shocked to finish the sentence.

"Actually," Rose admitted in a small voice. "I did."


	24. Some People Never Learn

131

"You drank the blood?" Angel's voice couldn't possibly have sounded more disbelieving. "Rose, drinking blood can make a human very sick. That much should have made you sick." He looked to Spike for confirmation, but Spike was still sitting there in stunned silence.

"I'm really sorry I drank up all the blood, Angel," Rose apologized. "But, I'm not sure how to explain this. I just felt like I needed it."

"Like you needed that bloody awful pizza last night?" Spike asked weakly, still having trouble dealing with the concept of Rose drinking blood.

"No," said Rose reflectively. "I wanted the pizza. I really wanted it. But the blood, I felt like I needed it. Like I was going to be sick if I didn't have it."

Spike and Angel exchanged a glance. "You're the resident expert on vampire pregnancies," Spike remarked to Angel. "What's your take on the thing?"

"That was different," Angel protested. "Both of Connor's parents were vampires. You can't go comparing Rose to Darla."

"Wouldn't want to," Spike commented. "I always did think Darla was a bitch. But one of those kid's parents is a vampire, and according to that prophecy, they're going to be the start of a race of vampires with souls. So maybe she really does need the blood." Rose had scooted away from him, distancing herself from a possible scolding. He snagged a wrist and pulled her back over to him for a cuddle. "She might need it for the kids," he repeated, patting Rose's stomach gently.

"Maybe we ought to have Wolfram and Hart's medical staff check her out," Angel suggested. "Or possibly one of the psychics."

"And have it going all over the sodding place that Rose is drinking blood?" Spike asked. "What in hell are you using for brains?"

That pulled Angel up short. Much as he hated to admit it, Spike had a point. Rose and Spike had been a hot topic of office gossip almost from the get go. And no matter how much he cautioned, or even threatened for, silence, there would still be heavy amounts of speculation going on. Possibly enough to get the attention of the senior partners. And they already knew more than he felt comfortable with. "So what would you suggest?" he inquired.

Spike shrugged. "Go with the flow, for now," he replied, planting a kiss on the top of Rose's head. "Doesn't appear to have hurt her, and you and me can keep a sharp eye on her. Put a stop to it if it looks like it's not doing well by her."

"What about the possible effects on your kids?" Angel asked pointedly. "On one hand, they may need it. On the other, it may do them some irreversible damage."

Rose was getting a teensy bit put out by them talking about her like she wasn't even there. "If it can hurt the babies," she began. "Then why did they want it?"

Two pairs of male eyes swiveled to look at her. "What do you mean, they wanted it?" Angel demanded.

"Well, Spike can verify that I'm not in the habit of drinking blood," Rose replied. "So why else would I feel such a.., a compulsion to drink it?"

"Maybe we should just back off of this and let Rose and the kids run the show," Spike suggested. "Seein' as how there's that prophecy and all, I don't see how the in-laws are going to let something muck it up."

"The in-laws?" Angel murmured lamely. Somehow, it just didn't seem to be the right way for Spike to be referring to The Powers That Be.

&&&&&&&&

Wesley handed Angel a report. "As far as my department can tell," he said. "The senior partner's suite checks out clean. And it would remove a source of worry, not having to fret about Rose being abducted every other week."

"It hasn't been quite that bad," Angel protested, although his heart wasn't really in it. For some reason, everyone seemed to want to get their hands on Rose. "I'm still waiting on a couple more departments to report in, but so far, it seems to be okay. If everyone else green lights it, we should be able to start getting them moved in by next weekend."

"What about the remodeling?" Wesley asked. "That could take some time, surely. Are you so anxious to get shed of Spike that you'll insist that Rose put up with living with all that fuss?"

"Aside from setting up a nursery, which they'll no doubt want to do themselves," Angel replied. "I don't think that they'll really be interested in remodeling all that much. Not to mention that the thought of the senior partners bearing gifts always runs a chill up my spine."

"Still, even doing up a nursery could be costly," Wes remarked. "Why not spare Rose and Spike the expense?"

"Money isn't going to be a problem," Angel said with a grin. "All those pretty baubles M'rek had Rose decked out in fetched a nice price."

"I can't imagine Rose accepting the money," Wesley mused. "How did you talk her into it?"

"I didn't." Angel shook his head, but he was still grinning. "But there is someone around here that Rose has a very hard time saying no to."

"How very obvious," Wesley commented. "And Spike would certainly have no compunctions about it. I'm sure he would consider it no more than just compensation for what Rose went through."

"That was pretty much his sentiment," Angel agreed. "Although his take was something like it didn't half pay for her being collared and leashed. He still can't talk about it without getting pissed off."

"I don't blame him," the Watcher murmured. "I do believe that I'd feel the same way if it was Fred."

&&&&&&&

Angel met Rose and Spike at the door to the parking garage.

"What do you think you're up to, ponce?" Spike asked suspiciously.

"Just because M'rek is gone doesn't mean we shouldn't take precautions," Angel replied. "I'm the back-up today."

"I almost forgot something," Rose exclaimed. She turned to Spike. "Pockets."

Spike looked pained. "Aren't you going a little overboard with this, pet?" he asked weakly.

"Pockets," Rose repeated firmly. She stood squarely in front of him, hands on hips.

Spike sighed and started turning out his pockets, putting the contents on the hood of the car.

Angel watched with interest, even though he had no idea what was going on. "Hey," he said. "Why do you still carry a lighter when you don't even smoke anymore?"

Spike shrugged. "Habit as much as anything, I suppose," he answered. "The primal need for fire. And you never know when you're gonna want to torch something." He stood there, pockets all inside out, and looked at Rose. "Satisfied, luv?"

"I guess so," Rose said a little dubiously. Then, she smiled and hugged him, which produced a crackling sound, like paper being crumpled. She stepped back, eyes blazing. "Unbutton your shirt, Spike," she ordered.

"We're going to be late, sweetheart," Spike hedged.

"We will if you don't unbutton your shirt," Rose said sweetly.

With another sigh, Spike complied. Before he was half-way down, the top of a piece of paper became visible, and Rose snatched it out.

"Here now, you gave me a paper cut," Spike protested, trying to distract her. It didn't work, and Rose was obviously ticked.

"You can stay here and start packing stuff," she informed him. "Angel can take me to the obstetrician's."

"But, Rose," Spike said pleadingly, buttoning his shirt back up.

"'But, Rose' nothing," she snapped. "William, how could you? After the way you embarrassed me before?"

Spike at least had the good graces to look ashamed. "I'm just trying to take care of you, babe," he muttered. "I don't know what's going on here, and it seemed to me that your doctor is the only one who can really clue me in." He gave her a big dose of puppy eyes. "He's going to be taking the pictures today. I want to see our kids. Please."

Rose felt herself caving in despite all her resolutions. And to be fair, they were Spike's children every bit as much as hers, he did have some rights. She took his hands in hers and looked into his eyes. "Promise me that you won't ask the doctor any stupid questions," she demanded.

Spike was going to protest the use of the term 'stupid' but stopped himself before he got that far. That would definitely not help his case. "No questions at all?" he asked plaintively, giving her hands a squeeze. He saw in her eyes that she was wavering, so he pulled her into his arms. "I just want to be a good father to our children, babe," he whispered, well aware that Angel was close enough to hear every word, and not caring at the moment. "And if I haven't mentioned it, there's no one I'd rather have as the mother of my kids than you." He kissed her forehead, each cheek in turn, then finally, her lips, and her response let him know that he had won a reprieve.

&&&&&&&&

Spike was going over his much truncated list irritably. "Why did you cross off question number three?" he asked.

"Which one was that?" Angel rejoined. He looked over Spike's shoulder at the list. "Why on earth would you think that she shouldn't be using a microwave?"

"Never mind," Spike sulked. He gave up. Angel and Rose had both gone over his list, crossing off any questions that they hadn't felt were appropriate. Which was most of them.

&&&&&&&

When Spike and Rose emerged into the waiting room again, Spike was well over his sulks. In fact, he was practically crowing, along with waving a couple of pieces of plastic in the air.

"Look at them, Angel." He all but thrust them under his grandsire's nose. "That's our kids. Told that doctor there were two of them."

Angel checked out the images dubiously. They barely looked human from his point of view. But there were definitely two of them. He squinted at them to see if that would help to bring out any details. It didn't. They still looked like a couple of underdeveloped polliwogs to him. "Was the doctor able to say if they were boys or girls?" he asked. That seemed a safe enough question.

"He thinks it's both," Rose replied. "I mean, one boy and one girl." She snuggled up against Spike. She had to admit that on this visit he had been particularly well-behaved. A look of consternation crossed her features. "So what color are we going to paint their room?" she asked in dismay.

Spike shrugged. He personally didn't give a rat's ass what color the room was. "Does it really matter, pet?"

"Well I thought blue was for boys and pink was for girls," she explained, then the confusion left her face to be replaced by consternation. "It's not actually a rule, is it?" She had missed the boat again. Sometimes it was quite frustrating to her trying to pick up on being human.

"No, Rose, it's not a rule," Angel assured her. "Paint the nursery any color that you want." He had a brainstorm. "You could ask Fred and Harmony to help you decorate."

Spike groaned. All he needed was three of them ganging up on him, and he was pretty sure that that was exactly what was going to happen. Then he looked and saw that Angel was trying to trace the outline of one of the babies on the scans. "Here, gimme that," he snapped. "You're going to get your fat fingerprints all over them."

&&&&&&&&

"I could help," Rose said sulkily. They were busy getting moved into their new home.

"No lifting," Spike said firmly. "The doctor even agreed with me on that one, luv. He said no unnecessary lifting. And we have enough hands helping that it is not necessary for you to lift anything." Rose had actually been going to cross that question off the list, but Angel had overruled her.

And Spike wasn't exaggerating about there being plenty of hands available for the job. Everyone had volunteered to help.

"If you really want something to do, Rose," said Wesley, who had caught part of the conversation in passing. "I believe that the coffeemaker has already arrived. Any chance that those of us who are working could get a cup?" He gave Spike a look that suggested he didn't mean Rose when he'd hinted that someone wasn't working.

&&&&&&&&

They were more or less settled in by the time the day was done. All the essentials had been unpacked, and what was left wasn't much until the bulk of their possessions were gotten out of storage. And now that the worst of it was over, Spike and Rose were settling in for the night.

Spike pulled her close thinking that even though she was now becoming visibly pregnant, Rose turned him on as much as ever. Maybe even more. "It's nice to have you all to myself again, babe," he murmured into her ear. "And now we've got a whole new place to break in. Want to see if we can cover the entire flat before the weekend is up?"

"Not in the nursery," Rose replied. Somehow it didn't seem right to her, making love in a room where their children were going to be sleeping.

"Not in the nursery," Spike agreed. "But anything else is fair game." He kissed her. "I love you, Rose."


	25. Party Hearty

137

"Lorne, could I grab a minute of your time?" Angel flopped down into a chair, sure of the answer.

Lorne pushed a button on the intercom. "Hold my calls while the boss is in here, will ya doll?" He turned back to Angel expectantly. "What's on your mind, guy?"

"Remember when you did that reading on Spike just before the last time Rose was kidnapped?" Angel asked.

"I could hardly forget that one," Lorne replied. "It was the damnedest thing that ever happened to me."

"I remember you saying that there was something weird, but it wasn't bad," Angel commented. "We didn't really have time to go into it then, and things have been a little hectic around here since. I just now remembered and got curious."

"Yeah, well..," Lorne hesitated. "You're probably going to think this is pretty strange, even by our standards, either that or good ol' Lorne is ready for a long ride on the short bus, but I could have sworn I heard someone talking to me."

"Not Rose or Spike, I take it," Angel prompted.

"I think it was the little ones," Lorne blurted out. "They told me they know that Spike and Rose love them."

"Wait a minute," Angel protested. "That was about three weeks ago, and Rose was only about four and a half months pregnant. Children don't usually start talking till quite a while after they're born."

"Then you explain to me who said that," Lorne suggested. "C'mon fella, it's not like we don't already know that those kids are special, or at least, they're going to be."

"And maybe I just have trouble believing it because I'd like to get to see Rose have some nice, relatively normal kids to raise," Angel mused. He sighed. "I guess I ought to have known better." He started grinning. "How many times has Spike shown you those pictures?"

It was Lorne's turn to sigh. "I lost count the first day," he admitted.

&&&&&&&

Spike was wandering aimlessly down a hallway. Actually that wasn't entirely true. He was in search of a new victim to show the babies' pictures to. For some reason, people had been going out of their way to avoid him lately. Suddenly he found himself flanked by Fred and Harmony.

"We need to talk to you Spike," Fred said, looping her arm through one of his.

"We need to ask you a favor," Harmony corrected, claiming the other arm.

"What sort of favor?" Spike asked cautiously, a riot of wild images running rampant through his head.

"We want to borrow the keys to your place," Fred explained, then realized that the explanation didn't explain enough. "We want to have a baby shower for Rose, but we thought that maybe it might be best to have it at your place. Just in case."

"You'll let us do it, won't you, Spikey?" Harmony asked, turning on the charm, forgetting that it never worked all that well with Spike anyway. "If we don't have that shower soon, Rose is going to have the babies before we can get to it, and that would suck."

Spike allowed himself to relax a little. A baby shower. Harmless enough. Give Rose a little female companionship, which she didn't get much of. Give all the females a chance to do the baby-talk thing. "I already know the where," he remarked. "So I guess the question would be, when are you planning this? And am I right in thinking that's it's going to be an all girl occasion?"

"I've never seen a baby shower that wasn't." Fred answered the second question first. "As far as the time, do you have a problem with Friday evening? That way, Harmony and maybe someone else can slip out early and get the decorations up and the food ready, then we can all get there to surprise Rose. I was thinking of asking Wes to keep her in the office a few minutes late to give us all a chance to get there before her."

"I guess so," Spike mumbled. He then realized that he had no place to go on a Friday night. Certainly not the sort of spots he used to haunt of a weekend. "Bugger. What time will I be allowed to come back home?"

&&&&&&&&

Rose was just getting ready to leave the office Friday when Wesley waylaid her.

"Could I talk to you for a minute, Rose?" he asked. "It shouldn't take long, but I wanted to ask you a few questions about the way that you filled out those employee evaluations you did for me last month."

Rose sighed. It was Friday night, and she was longing to get out of the office for the weekend just like all the other humans. "It's taken you a whole month to realize that I did something wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, I didn't say that there was anything wrong, exactly," Wesley replied. "I just wanted to get your viewpoint on things, see why you said what you said."

"I didn't do them the way you would have so you want me to tell you why I did what I did?" Rose guessed.

"That sums it up fairly well," he answered. He started shuffling papers. "This won't take long," he repeated.

Rose stifled a groan.

&&&&&&&

"What's the deal, Spikester? Friday night and you're not hurrying up to your new love nest to spend the weekend with the light of your life?" Lorne was a little surprised. Usually, Spike and Rose were nearly inseparable.

"Can't," Spike mumbled. "Baby shower tonight. My presence is not welcome till later in the evening. Probably in time to give a hand with the clean-up."

"So, do you have plans, or are you at a loose end?" Lorne asked.

"Haven't got a sodding idea what I'm gonna do for the next few hours," Spike admitted. "I was even getting desperate enough to think about going to wind my poncey grandsire up out of sheer boredom."

"I was just about to go home and rinse the taste of Wolfram and Hart out of my mouth," Lorne said. "You're welcome if you want to come along and hoist a few."

Spike thought about it for a moment. He got along with the Pylean as well as some, and better than most. "Why not?" he replied. "Gimme something to do while the hen party goes on."

"That's the spirit." Lorne slapped him on the back. He paused a moment, taking a mental inventory. "You know, I might be a little low on supplies. Maybe we ought to stop at the liquor store first."

"Never been something that I've had a particular problem with," Spike replied. "Lead the way, Lorne."

&&&&&&&

Rose was surprised not to see Spike on her way up. Most days, they met at the elevator to their suite. Maybe he had something extra he had to do for work, she thought. Poor darling, he would probably be so tired when he got home. Maybe she should have a nice cup of blood ready for him when he got in. He'd probably be needing it.

She fumbled with her key in the lock. She wasn't used to the unusual mechanism yet, and found it to be troublesome. Maybe she should suggest to Spike that they get something more conventional and a little easier to deal with. She was in no way prepared when she stepped into the apartment and found herself standing in the middle of a flurry of confetti.

"Surprise!" Rose blinked her eyes, there was a piece of confetti stuck to one eyelash. What was going on? There was Fred, and Harmony and Stasia. Anna Monroe and Vicky Spears she recognized from her own department. And the other woman, who was she? Rose thought she was one of the staff witches, but she hadn't been introduced. "What's going on?"

Harmony came up and hugged her. "It's a baby shower, silly," she said. She leaned down and said, "Auntie Harmony loves you," to Rose's stomach. She seldom missed a chance to talk to the babies.

Rose's brow furrowed. "I thought you were supposed to bathe babies, not give them showers," she murmured in bewilderment. "And wouldn't that be a little awkward now?"

&&&&&&&&

"Here's to the ladies, god bless 'em." Lorne raised a glass with a noxious looking murky green liquid in it. "The world would be a much drearier place without 'em."

"To Rose." Spike took a swig from the bottle of whiskey he'd adopted. No matter what sort of toast Lorne proposed, that was Spike's answer. He looked at the clock, but couldn't tell the time. Silly thing was all blurry. "What time is it?" he asked.

"About five minutes since the last time you asked," Lorne replied. He decided to try to get Spike off the subject. "Have you two lovebirds discussed any names for the wee tikes yet?"

"Oh, there've been discussions," Spike muttered. "Agreements is what we seem to be short of. Rose is being incredibly stubborn."

&&&&&&&&&&&

"Spike is just being so stubborn about names," Rose said in reply to a question about the babies names. "He doesn't like anything that I come up with."

"Tell you what, sweetie." That was Anna from her department. Rose hadn't really gotten to know her too well. One thing she knew now was that she was a giggly, sly tabby. "Pick out whatever names you want. When you're at the hospital, they'll ask you what you want to name them. You can have whatever you want on the birth certificate before he realizes that you've pulled a fast one."

"But they're Spike's children too," Rose pointed out. Such an idea would never have occurred to her, even if she had been cognizant of hospital routine. "Surely he should have some say in what to name them?"

"You don't want to let him walk all over you, though," Harmony said. "You do let him get away with an awful lot, Rose. After all, you're the one that's pregnant. And you're the one that's probably going to be doing most of the dirty work when the babies are born. Spikey ought to show you a little more consideration."

"I think he showed a great deal of consideration, defying the rules and risking his life to go to another dimension to save her." That was her new acquaintance. Zelda, that was her name. Rose liked her. She was very nice.

"They've still got the better part of four months to come to an agreement," Stasia put in. "And if Spike wants to have some say in naming his children, maybe you ought to hear him out. There are a lot of men that won't even go to that much trouble. They think that once they've gotten a woman pregnant, all the rest is up to her."

"If your only choices are between despot and doormat," Vicky said. "Then despot is a lot easier, and you don't have people wiping their feet on you."

Rose looked to Fred to be the voice of sanity, but Fred was out in the kitchen attending to the refreshments. So much advice, and so much of it conflicting. What was she supposed to think?

&&&&&&&&&

Spike went to take another swig out of his bottle and was mildly surprised to find that it was empty. Surely he hadn't drunk that much, had he? If he had, he'd be drunk now. And he certainly wasn't drunk. He was going to ask Lorne his opinion and found that there were about three of him. Maybe he was a bit tanked.

A cell phone rang. Lorne fumbled in his pockets and pulled his out. "It's not mine," he remarked. "I didn't know you carried a cell phone, Spike."

"Don't," Spike mumbled. "It's Harm's. The ladies decided that we ought to have a way to keep in touch since I didn't know where I'd be tonight." He fumbled with the gadget. "Sodding hell," he swore. "How in bloody blue blazes do you work this thing?"

"Here, allow me." Lorne took the phone and activated it. He spent so much time on his own cell that he could go through the motions dead asleep. He handed it back to Spike. "You're on, guy," he prompted when Spike just sat there staring at it.

"Hello." Spike held the phone gingerly, as if it were a venomous snake about to bite him. "Yeah, Fred, what's happening? What?" His voice had gone up an octave. Lorne sat up and took notice. "Shit. I'll be right there."

"Wait a minute, oh peroxided one," Lorne pleaded. "You're in no condition to be driving."

"And are any of you?" Spike asked. "Doesn't matter. Rose needs me."

&&&&&&&

Fred met Spike at the door. "I'm sorry to have bothered you," she apologized. "But Rose got a little unstrung. Everyone is gone now except for Harmony and me."

"What exactly happened?" Spike, while not entirely sober, had had a lot of the effects of the alcohol wear off on the drive home. Nothing like being scared shitless to get over a drunk.

"Anna Monroe," Fred replied, with her little button nose in the air. "It's like she's one of those people who can't stand to see someone else happy, so she has to ruin things. When nothing else worked, she started telling Rose pregnancy and labor horror stories. Rose got a little upset."

Spike looked and saw Rose sitting on the sofa. Harmony was beside her with a protective arm around her. "Fred just threw her out," Harmony sniffed. "I wanted to beat her up." Of course, Harm's vampire ears had heard the whole thing. She turned back to Rose. "Hey, Rose," she cooed. "Blondie Bear is here to make things all better."

"I'm fine," Rose protested weakly. "Really I am." But the way her hands shook as she raised a cup to her lips suggested otherwise. Spike was shocked to see what was in it. They had decided to keep the whole thing a secret and here she was drinking blood in front of Harmony and Fred.

"You sure you're okay, pet?" he asked. "You look a little off color to me. And what are you doing with that?" He nodded towards what she was drinking.

"Harmony and Fred won't tell," Rose mumbled. "And after I got all upset, it seemed to be the only thing that would calm my nerves."

"I'm here to calm your nerves now," Spike said soothingly.

&&&&&&&&&

"Well, the cat is out of the bag with a vengeance," Lorne remarked. Angel had called a meeting first thing Monday morning.

Angel nodded. "We don't know why she feels the need for blood, but Spike seems to think that The Powers won't let anything go wrong."

"I can understand why you wanted to avoid office gossip," Wesley commented. "But why did you think that you had to keep it a secret from us?"

Lorne was looking speculative. "Sweetpea," he said to Rose. "When you first wanted that blood, was it just a feeling you had, or did they tell you?"

Rose looked shocked. "You heard them too?" she asked in amazement. "No one else has, not even Spike, and he listens all the time."

"Heard who too?" Spike queried. "You been keeping secrets from me, babe?"

"I was afraid that you'd think I was crazy," Rose confessed. "So, I didn't tell you."

"Who did you hear?" Spike still hadn't gotten an answer to that one, and it was seeming more important by the moment that he get one.

"Your kids, Spike," Lorne informed him. "They've already started talking. Precocious little nippers, aren't they?"


	26. Marking Time

142

After a long, stunned silence, which rivaled the one that had taken place after Angel had announced that Rose was drinking blood, Fred said, "Wait a minute, there's no way that could be possible." It was spoken by someone who knew she had all the scientific laws on her side. A very gentle nudge from Wesley reminded her that Rose's was a mystical pregnancy, and that those things usually told the scientific laws to take a hike. Fred shut her mouth and looked a little embarrassed.

"You're absolutely sure?" Wesley asked. He was ready to believe, but wanted confirmation. "I mean, you heard actual voices?"

"Oh, yes," replied Rose and Lorne in chorus.

"I heard those little voices as clearly as I hear you," Lorne added. He turned to Rose. "Did it sound like normal speech to you, blossom?"

"Most of the time it does." Rose blushed, realizing that she hadn't yet let on that hearing her unborn children was more than a one-shot deal. "But the first time I really heard them, the night I started drinking blood, they weren't speaking so much as crying. They were crying for the blood." Her eyes misted over. "I couldn't just let them cry, could I?"

"'Course not, pet." Spike kissed her cheek. "Told you, you were gonna be a good mum, didn't I?"

"Is it just me?" Gunn asked. "Or is there something a little ironic about blood being one of the first words Spike's kids learn?"

"What's that bloody well supposed to mean?" Spike bristled. "Is that some kind of bloody shot..," His voice trailed away as he got the point.

"I rest my case," Gunn remarked with a grin.

&&&&&&&&

That night, Spike was listening again. Things had changed, however. Now, instead of laying his head atop Rose's stomach, Rose lay on her side, with Spike curled up beside her. With the twins getting larger and more active, having his head on top of her was uncomfortable, and as always, Spike was willing to make concessions for Rose. And the fact that he had once gotten kicked soundly in the ear had absolutely nothing to do with it.

"I hear their hearts beating," Spike commented. "And you digesting your dinner, luv. But I don't hear bug.., I don't hear a word from the kids." Since the children obviously were learning language, Spike had been strongly cautioned by Rose to try to moderate his speech. And he was giving it the old school try, but the habits of several lifetimes were very strongly ingrained.

"The first time I heard them, they really wanted something," Rose remarked. "And I think Lorne has an advantage, being an empath. But maybe you should try talking to them. Or singing. The first time Lorne heard them, you were singing to them. Maybe they liked that."

Spike felt the babies wriggle against his ear, as though in agreement with Rose. Spike was more than a little dubious, not to mention, he felt a right nit. At least there was no one to witness it but Rose. "Hello kids," he murmured, stroking Rose's swollen abdomen as he spoke. "I'm your daddy." Hell's bells, what in buggering hell was he supposed to say to them? "I love you both very much. As much as I love your mum." It was getting easier now, and felt a bit less foolish. "The happiest day of my life was when your mum told me you two were on the way." He paused, still listening, and still hearing nothing that a doctor wouldn't have heard with a stethoscope placed against Rose's belly.

"Why don't you try singing to us?" Rose suggested drowsily. She was more than half asleep, and was hoping that Spike would get this out of his system, at least for the night, so she could get some rest.

Spike started humming at first. Brahms' lullaby. He and Rose had gotten a book of children's songs as a baby gift, and he'd been sneaking peeks when he thought no one was looking. The whole father thing was going to play hob with his Big Bad image. Finally, he began softly crooning the words. It was working on at least one person, Rose was drifting off to sleep, as evidenced in the change of the rhythm of her breathing.

He kept singing for a while longer, and on about the third repetition of the song, he could have sworn he heard two little voices start singing with him. He stopped singing and whispered, "I love you. But your mum has been working very hard taking care of you, so why don't we let her get some rest?" He kissed Rose's stomach, the closest he could come to kissing his kids right now. "Good night, my little darlings." And in his head, two little voices echoed. "Good night, daddy."

&&&&&&

"Rose, do you recall what you said in your evaluation of Anna Monroe?" Wesley asked, a few days later at work.

"I don't think it was very good," Rose admitted. "But she has been slacking off in her work lately. Should I not have done it?"

"You didn't do anything wrong," Wesley assured her. "I was just thinking that maybe the low performance rating you gave her, that resulted in her getting a smaller raise than she might have been expecting may have been why she was so.., catty to you the other night."

"How did you find out about that?" Rose asked. "I know I didn't tell anyone. As far as I know the only people who know about it are the people who were there. And Spike, of course."

"First of all, Fred was one of the people who was there," the Watcher pointed out. "That was my source of information. But not all of the women present were too close-lipped. I've been given to understand that the word has been spreading rapidly."

"But why would she want to do something so mean spirited?" Rose wondered. "I didn't give her a poor rating out of pettiness. I did it because that was what her work merited."

Wesley gave her a fond smile. "You're still so innocent in some ways, Rose," he remarked. "Some people will take offense at any criticism, no matter how richly deserved it is. I can't reprimand her for something that happened at a social event, but I have given her to understand that her performance must pick up, or I'll let her go."

"She'll probably blame me for that, too," Rose muttered. "Why can't people take responsibility for their own actions?"

He shrugged. "No one wants to be wrong," he replied. "So a lot of the time, people will try to shift the blame just to feel better about themselves."

Rose closed her eyes for a moment, trying to sort it all out. "Tell me again why I wanted to be human?"

Now, Wesley was grinning broadly. "Because you fell in love with Spike," he answered.

"Oh yes, that was it." Rose smiled back.

&&&&&&&

Spike almost dragged the back of his hand across his forehead before he remembered there was a streak of yellow paint on it. Rose had already gone to Angel's flat, under protest, and soon he would be joining her. She'd insisted on painting the nursery a sunny yellow, and Spike had acquiesced with the proviso that she not do any of the actual painting or even be around while it was going on. He would confess, under pressure, that he may be just a bit overprotective, but he didn't want her breathing in paint fumes while she was pregnant. He looked around at his handiwork, scanning for missed spots. But he seemed to have done a thorough job of it. Once the paint was dry, he'd start moving in the baby furniture currently cluttering up their spare bedroom. He was starting to chafe under the continual need for security though. He could use a night out on the town, and Rose certainly deserved one. On the other hand, as much as Rose deserved a little fun, she was slowing down a bit despite her best intentions. While he was concentrating solely on the babies growing inside her, Rose was dealing with sore feet, swollen ankles and backaches, and Spike had to admit that sometimes he forgot the trials that she was going through to give life to their children unless Rose, or occasionally, someone else reminded him. Well, maybe since taking her out just wasn't on, he should get her some flowers. Something to let her know that he appreciated the effort. He looked at the time and started rushing through his clean-up. Almost time to be singing to the kids. He never missed a night now, since that seemed to be the only time his children had anything to say to him. Of course, since he was neither an empath, nor was he carrying them around in his body, this was about the only time he had to listen to them. And damned if he was going to miss out on it.

&&&&&&&&

"Are you just going to sit there looking at the pretty paper, or are you going to open it?" Angel teased. "Go on, Rose, I absolutely promise that it won't bite."

"I didn't think that it would," Rose replied, missing the joke. "But you've already done so much for us, Angel, that it doesn't seem right that you should be giving..,"

"It's for the kids," Angel interrupted. "You know how much I missed out on with Connor. Let me have a little of that with your children." He gave her an appealing look. "Just a little bit?"

Rose smiled. "I'll remember that when Spike wants a night out and I need a babysitter," she said. She started tearing the wrapping off the package. "Books? But won't it be a while before they can read?"

"The way those two are going, who can tell?" Angel replied. "But when they're small, you read to them, Rose. That's what you do with those books."

"Dr. Seuss," Rose read. "What is he a doctor of?"

&&&&&&&&

Spike let himself into Angel's flat, fair worn out, and looking forward to a little family time, and was a bit irritated when he saw that family time had started without him. Rose and Angel sat on the sofa, dark brown head leaning towards the chestnut one. Rose was speaking.

"'I meant what I said And I said what I meant An elephant's faithful One hundred percent'." Rose looked up from the book and saw Spike. "Hello, darling. Did you finish painting the children's room?"

"Nothing to do but let the paint dry," he replied, going over and kissing her, totally disregarding Angel's proximity. "What are you reading, pet?"

"Something that Angel got for the children," Rose answered. "I don't believe I've ever actually read anything just for the fun of it. I've always been researching something. I didn't even realize that all those books in the bookstore were anything but research materials."

Spike slid down on to the seat beside her. He put his arm around her, 'accidentally' hitting Angel as he did so. "Sorry," he said insincerely.

"Jerk," Angel said very sincerely. He looked at the appendage that had hit him. "Your hand's yellow."

&&&&&&&&

They were finishing up in the nursery. Rose had already put sheets and blankets in the cribs even though it would still be a few months before they were used. Each crib was also occupied.

"Who contributed the pink and blue teddy bears?" Spike asked.

"Harmony," Rose replied. "Aren't they sweet? Everybody else bought books or clothes. Harmony was the only person who thought of toys."

Spike hadn't actually thought that they'd need a bookshelf in the nursery, but now he was glad that Rose had insisted on putting one in. It was already getting to be well occupied. He scoped out the titles. There were the Seuss books that had been Angel's contribution. "Who got The Chronicles of Narnia?" he asked. "Bit advanced for babies, I'm thinking."

"Wesley," Rose answered. "He wanted to get them something nice, but I agree with you about how advanced they are. I enjoyed reading them though. And they'll still be around when the children are old enough to enjoy them."

"Figures," Spike muttered. "Watcher has to come up with a gift with a moral to it. What about Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle?"

"Fred," Rose said. "She said she used to love them when she was little. And the books about the girl named Alice were from your friend Zelda. By the way, how do you know her?"

"She's the one who opened the portal for me so I could go get you out of dog-boy's paws," Spike explained. "I never did get a chance to thank her proper. Think I ought to send her some flowers or some such?"

"That might be nice," Rose agreed absently. "Well, I guess that come what may, our children will be well read."

"If they take after you, they'll probably have their noses in a book so often we'll have to make them take time to play," Spike said. "Speaking of playing, luv, if we're all through in here..," He let his voice trail off suggestively.

Rose smiled at him and held him as close as her bulging tummy would allow. "You must have a thing about fat women," she teased.

"I have a thing about you, babe," Spike replied, picking her up and carrying her off to the bedroom. He leaned down and said to her stomach. "Time to go to sleep, kids. You're too young to see this."

&&&&&&

"I'm sorry, Rose," Dr. Pratt said. "But with you being built so small, carrying twins is putting a lot of strain on you. And while I don't know exactly what you do at work, the stress levels are obvious from your charts. Your blood pressure is up again. I'm going to have to take you off work until after your children are born."

"But that's three whole months," Rose wailed. "What am I going to do for three months?"

"Get plenty of rest, reasonable exercise and eat balanced meals," the doctor said firmly. He sighed. "I'm not doing this arbitrarily. But if you want to have healthy children, and incidentally keep yourself healthy so you can look after them properly, you need to go on maternity leave. Now." He hesitated. "It won't be a problem with your job, will it?"

"Not in the slightest," Spike assured him. "My aged grandsire runs the place." He gave the o.b. a conspiratorial wink.

Rose groaned. What was she going to do for three whole months?


	27. Moving Right Along

147

Lorne glanced up and down the hall. So far, so good, no one coming who could call him back to the demands of work. He slipped into the elevator and pushed the button.

The door opened into a cloakroom/entryway which Lorne knew also contained probably every security device known to man and maybe a few that weren't. He knocked on the door which opened almost immediately. She must have seen from the system that someone was arriving, and in all likelihood, it even told her who it was.

He was barely in the doorway before she was all over him, giving him her pregnant version of a bear-hug. "It's wonderful to see you, Lorne," Rose said with real feeling.

Lorne gave her a peck on the cheek. "I've been missing you too, blossom, so I decided to play hooky for a while and see how you were doing. So, how are you doing?"

"I'm bored." Lorne had never seen that exact expression on Rose's face before. If he didn't know better, he'd say she was pouting. "Angel has the cleaning staff taking care of the tidying up, I suspect, at Spike's request. I don't dare even think of re-arranging the furniture, not that I'm sure I'd like it better elsewhere. I can't go out without an armed escort. And there's nothing on t.v. worth watching," Rose elaborated in a rush, then added, "Dumb doctor."

"Now, Rosebud," Lorne chided gently. "The doctor's just doing what he thinks is best for you and your two little cherubs." That abated the pout, but didn't banish it entirely. "Now why don't we turn that frown upside-down?"

That made Rose smile even though she really wasn't in the mood for it. "It is nice to see you, Lorne," she repeated. "I'm surprised you managed to get away in the middle of the day. You're usually so busy."

"I'm AWOL," the Pylean replied, lifting a finger to his lips. "Why don't you pop down for a visit once in a while, sweetpea? You've got the time."

"I'm not allowed." Rose's mood took a downturn again. "I've got a pair of very male vampires ganging up on me. They're both afraid that I'll either disrupt things and keep other people from getting work done, or that I'll do some actual work myself. Do you know I'm not even allowed to cook dinner for myself anymore?"

"If I recall, chicklet, you weren't exactly a gourmet chef," Lorne said gently.

"I am compared to Spike," Rose replied, the faint ghost of a smile tugging at her lips. "Soundproofing or not, I'm surprised everyone in the building hasn't heard some of the shouting matches."

"Shouting matches? You and the Spikester?" Lorne found it hard to believe.

"Spike has been getting more overprotective by the hour," Rose explained. Then, honesty forced her to add, "And I haven't been very easy to live with lately." She suddenly remembered her manners. "Can I get you something, Lorne?" Her eyes pleaded with him to say yes, to give her some little thing to do. Lorne already had a soft spot for Rose that was a mile wide, and he just couldn't say no to those eyes.

"Sure, blossom," he said. "The pipes are a bit dry, now that you mention it. A glass of water would go down good."

Rose looked askance at him. She couldn't recall ever having seen Lorne drink water, but she forbore comment on it. "Plain, or with bubbles or flavoring?" she asked.

"Whatever comes to hand, sugarplum," Lorne replied gaily, thinking that he was going to have to gag at least some of it down for politeness' sake.

Rose was back in a moment, carrying two glasses of clear liquid that hissed gently. "It's kiwi-strawberry," she informed him, taking a sip of hers.

Lorne followed suit and barely managed not to make a face. How in the names of all the gods did people manage to drink this swill? "Have you and the studly one made any progress on picking out names, lambkin?" he inquired.

Rose did make a face. "That's half the shouting matches," she admitted. "If we can't come to an agreement, we're not going to have names for them before they're born." There was an obvious movement under the maternity top, and Rose winced. "Hey, take it easy, you two," she admonished gently. "That hurts." She looked back to Lorne with a smile. "I think they're excited that you're here. They like you."

"The feeling's mutual, kiddies," Lorne crooned in the direction of her stomach. "Uncle Lorne can hardly wait to sing you lullabies."

Rose winced again. "Why don't you start now?" she suggested.

Lorne smiled. "Hush little baby, don't say a word Uncle Lorne's gonna buy you a mockingbird..,"

&&&&&&&

Spike was mildly surprised that Rose didn't meet him at the door as had become her habit since the o.b. had benched her. Oh well, he thought, maybe she was in the loo. It seemed the more active the kids got, the more trips she had to make to the bathroom.

Rose wasn't in the bathroom. She was sitting on the sofa festooned with mint green yarn.

Spike suppressed a laugh. She didn't look like she was in a laughing mood. "What on earth are you up to, luv?" he inquired.

"I'm trying to learn to crochet," she mumbled, trying to free herself from her unplanned cat's cradle. "I think Zelda lied to me. She said it was easy."

"What were you trying to make?" Spike wasn't even going to risk a guess on that one, until it became obvious. "Stuff for the kids?" He knelt in front of her and started unwinding yarn from her.

"Yes," Rose confessed. "But I don't think it's going to happen. Supposing that I actually do get the hang of this, they'll be adults before I finish it." She held up a lopsided something with a crochet hook hanging from it. "This does not look like the picture," she muttered.

Spike looked at the picture of the infant sweater, then looked a little closer at the instructions. "Sweetheart, it says expert skill level. You need to start out on the easy stuff first." He finished getting her untangled. "There, free at last. Don't I get a kiss for rescuing the damsel in distress?"

"Only if you come up here to get it," she told him. "My ribs are a little sore today, and I don't feel like bending over to reach you. Half the day it's felt like there's a fistfight going on in my stomach, and they won't settle down for anything."

"Hey there, you two," Spike spoke to Rose's bulging midsection. "If you don't settle down and behave yourselves, daddy won't sing to you tonight." He joined Rose up on the sofa. "I believe there was something mentioned about a kiss?"

"I believe there was," Rose agreed. "I do love you, Spike, even if I have been a pain lately." She gave him his kiss.

"I love you too, babe," Spike replied. He sat back and cuddled her close. "This is nice. What would you like for dinner, pet?"

Rose barely managed to suppress a groan.

&&&&&&&&

Angel sprang from behind his desk the moment he saw who was entering his office. "I thought the offices were off limits to you, Rose," he reminded her. It didn't keep him from getting her settled into a chair.

"I only came straight to your office," Rose protested. "I wanted to see how much it would cost me for a legal document."

Angel's eyebrows shot up. He couldn't imagine what sort of legal document Rose would think she needed. "What kind of document exactly?" he asked. "How expensive it is depends on what it is and how much work is entailed in getting it together."

"Spike and I finally decided on names," she informed him. "And I want it in writing, in a legal contract so he can't change his mind. I am not going through all that fuss again."

"Rose, I don't think you really need a contract for that," Angel protested. "I think Spike is just as tired of arguing on the subject as you are." Then, more immediate concerns took over. "What did you decide on?"

"Alaric William and Ariel Vivienne," Rose said. "We finally divided it up. I chose his name and Spike chose hers."

"How did you manage to slip William in on him?" Angel was curious. Spike had seemed to be pretty adamant about not using it.

Rose smiled slyly. "I hit him at a weak moment," she murmured. "I'm sure you don't want the details."

"I'm sure you're right," he agreed with a weak smile. He already knew far more about Spike and Rose's love life than any sane person would want to. "They're nice names, Rose. You do realize that being twins, people are probably going to shorten them to Ali and Ari, don't you?"

"I hadn't thought of that," Rose admitted. "But I kind of like it. They go together." She paused in thought for a moment. "Please don't forget them, Liam," she requested. "I want some kind of back-up in case Spike changes his mind."

"I'll even write them down," he offered. "How are you spelling them?" He didn't mind doing this little thing if it brought a little peace to her life. But she still didn't know Spike if she thought he was likely to change his mind. Changing Spike's mind was like trying to change the tides.

&&&&&&&

Rose was bored again. She was sitting with the television on, doing what Spike referred to as channel surfing, but nothing appealed. Then, she stopped cold and went back a channel. She didn't realize that there were shows like this. They were actually going to show a woman giving birth. Rose knew about the mechanics from her reading, but seeing it had to be different. She decided to watch it.

&&&&&&&

"Ms. Powers is here to see you, sir," one of the men informed Spike as he sat in his office wrestling with the bloody monthly reports.

Spike was immediately on his feet. "Is it the babies?" he asked anxiously, even though it was way early for Rose to be in labor.

The man shook his head. "I don't think so, but she does seem to be upset. Shall I send her in?"

But Spike was already shoving past him. Rose had never come down here before. "Rose, what's wrong, babe?" Her face was tear streaked, and she was still sniffling. He took her in his arms and found that she was trembling too.

"I can't do it, Spike," she moaned. "It didn't sound so bad in the book, they called them contractions, and it all sounded very clinical and neat. But that woman was screaming in pain."

"Wait a minute," Spike said. "What woman? And what are you talking about?"

"It was on the t.v.," Rose sniffled. "I watched a woman giving birth. And she only had one baby. I'm carrying two of them. Does that mean it's going to be twice as bad?"

The pieces clicked into place for Spike. "If it was all that terrible, sweetheart," he murmured. "Do you think there'd be so many women with more than one kid? And as far as you not being able to do it, I don't think you've got much of a choice at this point." He tipped her chin up so that he could look into her eyes. "You do want our kids, don't you?"

A tear trickled down her cheek. "Of course I do, darling. But I'm so scared. I don't think I can stand that sort of pain."

Spike wiped the tears away. "I don't know what to tell you, luv," he admitted. "But you've got another doctor's visit next week. Why don't you ask him about it? After all, he's probably delivered more babies than you've even seen."

"Okay," Rose replied with a leftover sniffle. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but watching that really rattled me."

Spike privately thought it would have rattled him too. "It's okay, pet," he assured her. "You're a hell of a lot more important to me than the job. Are you going to be all right now, or should I just chuck it in for the day?"

"I'll be all right," she mumbled. "But I wouldn't complain if you could manage to make it home a little early today."

"When it's your welfare involved," Spike replied. "I don't think even the ponce would mind me kicking off early. I'll see you in a few hours then, babe." He kissed her. "Do you need someone to walk you home?"

Rose pulled herself out of his arms. "Oh for heaven's sake," she snapped. "You really are the dizzy limit, Spike." She turned and flounced out. Or at least as close to it as she could come.

Spike rubbed his chin, musing. Then, he said aloud. "You just gotta love those mood swings."

&&&&&&

Angel came upon Wesley leaving his office. The Watcher was toying with a small piece of paper, twiddling it between his fingers and frowning over it.

"Something important?" he asked.

Wes smiled. "Not really," he replied. "It's just my slip for the baby pool. I'm wondering if I should have chosen another date."

"Baby pool? What baby pool?" It was the first that Angel had heard of it.

"You haven't gotten into the baby pool yet?" It was Wesley's turn to be surprised. "There's quite a lot of money accumulated by now. But I don't think you'll have a chance. All the good days have already been taken."

Suddenly it dawned on him. "You're betting on when Rose will have her kids?" he queried incredulously. "Somehow I never thought of you as doing something like that, Wes."

"The winner doesn't get all the money," Wesley hedged. "Half of it goes to get a baby present. The winner gets the other half. I thought I had a pretty good shot since I have a more than fair idea when they were conceived. But by the time the pool got around to me, my day was already taken."

"Maybe Rose will surprise you, Wes," Angel consoled him. "She seems to make a habit of surprising people."

Wesley brightened. "She does, doesn't she?"


	28. Poison Pens at Ten Paces

149

Rose, now used to the routine was sitting on the cold table clad in the indecent gown with Spike fidgeting nearby waiting for the doctor to arrive. The door to the examining room opened to admit a doctor, from the looks of him, but it wasn't her usual doctor.

He was tall, with twinkling blue eyes and wavy black hair and a dimple in his chin. He was smiling as he entered the room, chart in hand. "Ms. Powers is it? I'm Dr. Mitchell."

"Where's Dr. Pratt?" Spike growled. He did not look happy.

Mitchell spared a smile for the sulky Spike as well. "He's out of state at the moment. He went to be with his daughter while she gives birth to his first grandchild. I'm filling in until he gets back." Noticing that Spike still did not seem to be mollified, he added. "I am a fully qualified ob/gyn. And if you're worried about it, I'm sure that Dr. Pratt will be back by the time your children are ready to make an appearance." Explanations out of the way, he turned his attention back to Rose.

Rose didn't know what had gotten under Spike's skin, although she was sure that she would find out later. She sat patiently through the exam and even remembered the questions she had. Especially if it was going to be twice as bad with twins.

"Actually, it ought to be a little easier on you having twins," the doctor reassured her. "Twins tend to run a bit smaller than single births. And while I may not have been delivering babies as long as Dr. Pratt, I've delivered enough to know that usually the pain is all but forgotten when a woman gets to hold her little one for the first time." He flashed her another smile. "Are you going to be okay with this now? Because it's a little late to back out."

&&&&&&&

Angel was waiting for them when they returned to the law firm. "How did the doctor's visit go?" he inquired, helping Rose out of the car. Rose was starting to need help for things like that now. She couldn't even put her own shoes on, Spike had to do it for her.

"Ask him," Rose indicated Spike with a jerk of her head. "He's been sulking ever since Dr. Mitchell walked into the room."

"I thought your doctor's name was Pratt," Angel remarked, puzzled. "So who's this Mitchell guy?"

"Dr. Pratt is away and Dr. Mitchell is filling in for him," Rose replied. "Spike seemed to take exception to his presence, although for the life of me, I can't figure out why."

"Poncey git looked like he stepped out of a toothpaste commercial," Spike grumbled.

Angel smiled in understanding. Spike was all bent out of shape because another good-looking male had been looking at Rose, and never mind that it had been in a purely professional capacity. "When are you going to grow up, Spike?" he asked. "The guy was just doing his job, which at the moment happens to overlap with yours, taking care of Rose. Certainly you don't have a problem with taking care of Rose, do you?"

Rose finally saw the light. "You were jealous?" she queried incredulously. "Why would you be jealous of my doctor? Or jealous at all? Have I given you any reason to be?"

Spike looked from one to the other of them a little helplessly. He was the injured party here, so why were they picking on him? "You wouldn't understand," he muttered. He could already see a heart to heart in the offing with Angel, pouf couldn't keep his nose out of it. But he really didn't want to get into it with Rose right now.

"No, I don't understand, and I'm not sure that I want to," Rose replied. She was overtaken by a huge yawn. "Goodness, it seems that about all I do lately is sleep, and I'm still tired."

"Why don't you go on up and have a little lie down then?" Spike suggested. "I'll see you later, babe." He kissed her good-bye before their paths separated. As he suspected, Angel stuck with him. "Go ahead and say your piece," he invited. "I know you won't bloody well leave me alone until you do."

"You're a jerk, Spike." That seemed like a good enough place to start out. "But," Angel went on. "You must be starting to show some restraint. Because if you had gotten so territorial at the doctor's office, Rose wouldn't have been confused, she'd have been pissed."

"Too damn right she would have," Spike mumbled. "And I don't much fancy sleeping on the sofa." Then, because he still felt that he had some justification for his discontent, he added, "You should have seen the prancing nancy-boy. All smiles and charm and..,"

"Trying to put Rose at ease with an unfamiliar doctor?" Angel suggested. "Spike, I know this is going to be a difficult concept for you to grasp, but you're going to have to get over the idea that every man that sees Rose is going to want to jump her bones."

Spike gave an inelegant grunt. "They'd be damn fools if they didn't," he remarked. "That woman is bleeding amazing."

"She is," Angel agreed. "If for no other reason than she puts up with you. But not every male on the planet is going to see that." He thought about it for a moment. "Have you ever thought of giving up the whole bleached blonde thing? I think the peroxide might be destroying the last few brain cells you have left."

"Piss on you." Spike flipped him the bird and went on his own way.

&&&&&&&&

Rose was surprised to find mail waiting for her. Aside from the usual junk, of course. Living at the law firm, not only were they only paying a nominal rent, but it included the utilities, and so the monthly bills had virtually disappeared. And since the people they associated were the ones they saw every day, indeed, Rose didn't know anyone that didn't live in L.A., personal letters were almost a foreign concept. She perused the envelope. It was addressed specifically to her. Not to Spike, and not to both of them, just to her. No return address, either. More than a bit curious, she tore open the envelope.

It was a single sheet of common notebook paper. The ink that comprised the writing could have come from any number of mass produced ballpoint pens. The writing was childish and unformed, almost deliberately so, it seemed. But the words were spelled correctly, and the sentiment expressed was far from a childish one.

'Your unborn brats are an abomination and the spawn of hell. If you had any vestiges of humanity left in you, you would destroy yourself and them along with you before you bring such evil into the world. Your very behavior of co-habiting with one of the living dead is proof that you have no decency in you. You may think that the mere fact of the dead bringing about life is a sign that it is right, but it is pure evil. Destroy yourself before your actions destroy the world.'

That was it. Not the slightest hint of who had penned the condemnatory missive. Rose surprised herself in that she was less upset than she was curious. Whoever had sent her the note obviously had no conception of what was going on. But on the other hand, who knew that the father of her children was a vampire except for those here, that knew that Spike had a soul? She found it disturbing, not in that it raised any sense of panic, but the mere thought that there was someone so disturbed that they could not only write such sentiments, but pass them on to her as well. She gave a moment's consideration to just throwing it away and forgetting about it, but that was all it was. If her anonymous critic went this far, they might go farther. And even though she was in about as secure place as there was on the planet, a truly determined lunatic could no doubt find a way to get at her.

But who was she to tell? Rose immediately crossed Spike off the list. Spike would just go off the deep end and get even more protective of her, if that was at all possible. It had to be someone who could find out who was behind it. She supposed she should take it straight to Angel. She didn't want to upset him, either, and she suspected that he would be more upset about it than she was. But it was the right thing to do. With a sigh, Rose headed for Angel's office. She gave a brief thought to her shoes, which she had kicked off upon entering. Her swollen feet were never happy in shoes these days. But she just couldn't reach to put them on herself. She shrugged and headed out the door, barefooted.

&&&&&&&&

"I'm sorry, Rose, but he's not in his office," Harmony told her.

"Do you know where he is, Harmony?" Rose asked. "I don't want to bother him, but I think it is kind of important."

Harmony rolled her eyes and looked disgusted. "He never tells me anything," she griped. "Except what to do. But he never gives me any information. Look, if you want to wait in his office, you can, I know Angel won't mind, but I can't even guarantee that he'll show up there again today."

Rose took a moment to digest the information. "I think I'm doing enough waiting now as it is," she said, patting her bulging belly. "I'll go find someone else to tell. Who knows, maybe I'll run into Angel on the way."

"Good luck," Harmony replied. Then, she blew a kiss towards Rose's stomach. "Auntie Harmony loves you."

&&&&&&&&&&

Rose wandered down hallways, half in a daze. Who should she tell now? Angel was the one in charge, the one who knew who did what, the one with the authority to set things in motion. But she couldn't very well tell him if she couldn't find him. She kept the envelope clutched in her hand, walking slowly, but thinking like mad. Who could she tell?

Then, from around a corner, she heard a running monologue, like someone talking on a cell phone. A smile lit up her face as she realized who it was. Lorne might not have any answers for her, but he always did make her feel better.

"Talk at ya later, guy, gotta run." Lorne finished up his conversation. Then, he saw who was headed his way. "Well, Rosebud. What brings you into forbidden territory, doll-face?" He gave her a quick visual and added, "And where are your shoes?"

"It's a long story, Lorne," Rose replied. "I really needed to see Angel about something, but Harmony doesn't know where he is or when he'll be back. And I don't know who else to tell."

Lorne became serious on the instant. "What's the deal, blossom?"

"I got a letter in the mail," Rose answered. "It's a bit threatening, and a lot disturbing. I thought that Angel would want to know about it."

"Let me see." The empath held out a green hand. Rose handed him the letter, and Lorne gave it the once over. If possible, it seemed that he turned a little greener. "Disturbing doesn't half cover it, sweetcakes," he muttered. "Whoever sent you this left disturbed behind a long time ago. But your instincts were right. The big guy definitely needs to see this."

"But how can we show it to him if we can't find him?" Rose pointed out. "Listen, Lorne, when I got home today, the biggest item on my personal agenda was a nap. Now, I have this to deal with."

The Pylean steered her into his office, where he'd been headed in the first place. "You just take a load off and let Uncle Lorne handle it," he advised. "If I do say so myself, I have a better network going than Harmonica. We'll track Angel down."

&&&&&&&&

Angel barely resisted the urge to crumple up the piece of paper and perform whatever other acts of violence he could think of to commit on such an inert object. But they needed it intact. This note was going to get a major going-over, everything from physics to psychics. "And you have no idea who would have sent you this?" he asked again.

"I haven't a clue," Rose confessed. "It was just laying there waiting for me when I got back from the doctor's office. Since we moved in here, I haven't had anything but junk mail, so it was sufficiently out of the ordinary that I opened it immediately."

"That's going to stop," Angel ordered. "From now on, Rose, when you get a letter with no return address like this, bring it straight to me. There could have been something in there, or even had a spell keyed to it. You're lucky it was just a piece of paper. But there could have been something that would have killed you and your kids."

Rose went pale, and if she hadn't already been sitting down, her knees would have buckled. "I still have trouble grasping the thought that someone would want to bring harm to my children," she said in a tremulous voice. "How could someone want to hurt innocent babies?"

"Because whoever this head-case is," Angel growled. "Doesn't think of your children as innocent anything." He sighed and fought to tone the anger down a notch or two. It wasn't doing anyone, most especially Rose, any good. "We'll find out who is responsible for this Rose, I promise. Nothing is going to happen to you and your kids."

"Liam?" Rose hesitated for a moment. She wasn't even sure about asking this question, let alone really wanting a straight answer to it. "Do you think I really ought to tell Spike about it?"

"Spike doesn't know about it?" Angel asked, then smacked his forehead. "Of course, Spike doesn't know about it. If he did, he'd be here, hovering over you and climbing the walls and driving everyone around him to do the same." He pulled himself together. "Rose, look into your heart and tell me the answer."

"They're Spike's children too," Rose replied slowly. "So he has a right to know if someone is threatening them."

"Not just the children," Angel pointed out. "There was an implied threat to you, too. And the kids aside, you're more important to Spike than anyone else. He'd tell the whole world to go to hell to keep you safe."

Rose sighed and picked up the phone and dialed Spike's extension. "Hello? Oh, Josh. Would you please tell Spike to come to Angel's office right away? Thank you." She hung up the phone and looked back at Angel. "I hope you know that I am not looking forward to this."

"That makes two of us," Angel agreed. "But I really don't want to set things in motion until Spike knows. It just wouldn't feel right that other people knew before he did." Since they were going to have a few minutes to kill before Spike arrived, he did have one question that he just had to ask. "Where are your shoes, Rose?"

Rose sighed. What was this thing everyone seemed to have about shoes?


	29. Dreams and Screams

156

Spike walked in with a sulky look on his face, mainly because being summoned to Angel's office reminded him that, hard as it was for him to swallow, Angel was the boss.

The sulky look disappeared the moment he saw Rose, and he was drawn to her side as if magnetized.

"What are you doing here, luv?" He tried to keep the worry out of his voice, and wasn't entirely successful. He stood behind her, hands resting lightly on her shoulders, little realizing just how much tension he was conveying through that contact.

"Someone seems to think that I'm evil for living with you, and our children are too, because they're ours," Rose explained quietly. "They felt so strongly about this that they had to put it in writing and mail it to me."

The look on Spike's face suggested that he'd eaten something that really didn't agree with him.

"Do you want to see it?" Angel asked, handling the paper as if it were radioactive.

For once, Spike actually thought before he spoke. "No," he said finally. "It's eating away at me now, just knowing. If I read it, I'd like as not get so worked up I couldn't concentrate on the important things." The kiss he placed on the top of Rose's head suggested what he thought the important things were. Almost unconsciously, his hands began kneading the tension out of Rose's shoulders. She closed her eyes, and Angel could almost swear that he heard purring.

"So, you gonna have Fred and her lot go over that, are you?" Spike asked when Angel made no reply. His hands continued to massage Rose's neck and shoulders.

"And the psychics," Angel added. "And anyone else who might be able to get a line on who this lunatic is."

"You won't go after them without me, will you?" Spike inquired, half-accusingly. "After all, it's my family being threatened. I take that a bit personally."

"I'll keep you posted," Angel promised. If Spike got involved, it could get messy, but he didn't have the heart to tell him no. "Why don't you take Rose up to your apartment now?" he suggested. "It looks like you put her right to sleep."

When Spike scooped Rose up in his arms, she mumbled drowsily, "I can walk." But her arms twined loosely around his neck.

"I know you can, pet," Spike murmured. "But you don't have to." She didn't make any further protest. Spike reckoned that she hadn't been more than half awake for those few seconds anyway. When Angel just remained behind his desk, Spike said, "Why don't you get your big spotty backside off that chair and open the door for us, you dumb git?"

&&&&&&&&

Angel carried the letter into the lab as if it were about to bite him. "Fred." He waited a moment until he was sure that he had her attention. "I want you to go over this from A to Z, then give it to the psychics and have them do the same. That is, unless you can give me a name first."

Fred shook her head and clucked her tongue. She picked up a rubber glove, and without even bothering to put it on, used it to take the letter. "How many people besides you have had their hands all over this?" she asked.

Angel winced, he hadn't thought of fingerprints, even though he doubted that the writer had been stupid enough to leave any. "Rose, since it was sent to her," he mused. "Oh, and Lorne. That's it, I think."

Fred had laid the paper down and was reading it. "I doubt if handwriting analysis will tell anything, since the writer has gone to a lot of trouble to disguise it," she said, thinking aloud. "Maybe a shrink should have a look at it. Figure out what kind of sick mind could come up with this garbage."

"Whatever it takes," Angel replied. "Give it top priority, Fred. I want to get all the wackos cleared out of the way before Rose has those babies." He paused a moment. "I wonder if Rose would have willingly become human if she'd known what she was in for?"

Fred gave him a pitying look. "Well, duh," she said. "Of course she would have. You men can really be thick sometimes." Her look turned speculative. "I kind of miss having a direct pipeline to the baby info, now that Rose isn't working. I wonder if she and Spike have decided on names yet."

"Alaric William and Ariel Vivienne," Angel supplied with a grin. "Guess who's the pipeline to the baby info now?"

Fred smiled back. "I bet that I can even guess who picked which names. Rose would go for names with significant meanings, so, we have a chosen soldier. Spike went for what sounded pretty."

"Since when are you an expert on the meanings of names?" Angel asked.

Fred rolled her eyes and gave him another 'well duh' look. "At last count, everyone who was thinking about putting in their two cent's worth if Spike and Rose were stalemated much longer," she replied. "Now," she added severely. "If you want me to get on with this, why don't you get out from under my feet?"

&&&&&&&

Spike tenderly tucked the covers in around Rose. Poor poppet, he didn't know what was more wearing on his precious girl, being pregnant, or the various maniacs that seemed to want their little ones out of the way. Rose stirred and mumbled something incoherent in her sleep. "Hush, luv," he soothed, stroking her hair. "Spike's here to take care of you." Even though Rose had stilled, he could swear that he heard someone crying. He knelt beside the bed and whispered. "Daddy won't let anything bad happen to you or your mum." The crying died down to the merest whimper, but he could tell they were still upset. He looked at the time and decided to screw the rest of the workday. His family needed him. He started singing softly, and the twins, soothed by the familiar voice, followed their mother's example and went to sleep.

&&&&&&&&&

Rose was restless that night, partly due to having slept a large part of the day. Another part may have had to do with a good, swift kick in the ribs. She climbed out of bed, rubbing her bruised side. Spike no longer questioned her middle of the night forays. Between cravings and multiple trips to the bathroom, they'd have spent half the night talking between the questions and the explanations.

She went to use the bathroom almost by force of habit. Amazing what it could do to you, having a couple of squirming bodies resting on top of your bladder. The next stop, which was becoming almost as much of a habit, was the kitchen, but once there, she was at a loss. Nothing appealed tonight. With a sigh, she retired to the living room and flipped on the late late show with the sound down way low, barely audible. She watched for a while, then, her eyelids seemed to grow heavier and heavier, and it just seemed like too much effort to go to to return to the bedroom. Rose fell asleep in front of the television.

&&&&&&&&

Spike was in that half-way, dreamy lethargic state. He was often this way when Rose got up. He usually settled back down to a sound sleep when she came back to bed. It occurred to him in a drowsy, off-hand way that she'd been gone a long time, but he couldn't surface enough to investigate. Not, that is until he heard a loud sob from the living room, then he was up and alert in an instant.

One glance told him that she'd dozed off in front of the telly. But whatever dreams she was having weren't the restful sort. She was thrashing and crying, and it took a flying dive for him to keep her from rolling off onto the floor.

"Don't hurt my babies," she moaned without waking. "Please, don't hurt my babies."

Spike sat cross-legged on the floor, then carefully pulled her down onto his lap. "Rose, luv, wake up." She snuggled into him, but continued crying and sleeping. "Rose," he said a little louder. "Please wake up, babe. It's just a bad dream. Wake up."

Rose's damp eyelashes fluttered open. She looked around in confusion for a few moments before she realized where she was and how she'd gotten there. Then, the memory of her nightmare homed in for a final fright. "Oh, Spike," she whispered in horrified tones. "It was awful. There was someone with a knife. They were going to.., going to..," she broke off, sobbing.

"It's all right now, pet," Spike murmured. "You know I wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt you and our kids." He tipped her wet face up to look at him, and couldn't resist a kiss. "You know that, don't you sweetheart?"

Rose nodded absently. "It just seemed so real," she mumbled. "Like it was actually happening. Why are the bad ones so much more vivid?"

"Beats the hell out of me," Spike admitted. "Why don't we turn the lights back off and go back to bed?" Rose hesitated, and he could see that she was afraid to sleep again for fear of the nightmare returning. "I know it was frightening, babe, but it was just a dream. Dreams can't hurt you."

Rose still seemed a little dubious, but acquiesced. As they snuggled back into bed, she gave one, last leftover shudder at the horror of it. "You'll hold me all night?" she pleaded.

"I'll hold you until the end of time," Spike promised. "Try to sleep now, luv. No more bad dreams."

&&&&&&&&

"Is it just me, Spike, or do you look a little tired?" Fred asked, as their paths crossed in one of the rat's maze of corridors.

"It's not just you, Fred," Spike replied. "This past week, Rose has been having some godawful nightmares. Been keeping me up quite a bit just getting her settled back down again. Do you think it could have anything to do with that sodding letter?"

Fred considered. "It could, I suppose," she said slowly. "But according to the literature, a lot of women have vivid dreams and nightmares when they're pregnant. It could just be that kicking in."

"Then you don't know for sure if the damn thing was spelled or not?" Spike pressed.

"All I know is we didn't get bupkiss out of it," Fred replied. "The psychics have it now, and I wish them well of it. My lab ran every test known to forensic science and even made up a few new ones."

"That sucks," Spike commented. "I was hoping to get a line on the bastard that sent it. The wondering and waiting aren't doing too well by Rose, either. But when I offered to see the ponce about getting some vacation time and spend it looking after her, and she liked to have ripped me a new one."

Fred smiled at the thought of the Big Bad vampire being intimidated by petite little Rose. "It'll all be over soon, Spike," she comforted him. "I'm sure once the children are born, Rose will go back to her usual sweet self."

"Can I hold you to that?" Spike's voice was joking, but there was a desperate look around his eyes that said he wasn't entirely kidding.

&&&&&&&

"Harmony, have you finished that report yet?" Angel asked a little irritably.

"Uh, well, no," she admitted. "I haven't gotten the figures from accounts receivable yet. Maybe I should go down there and shake them up a bit?" She surreptitiously slid said report under a stack of similar paperwork.

"Yeah, why don't you do that," Angel agreed absently. "But don't take too long, okay? I need that report by the end of the day."

"No prob," Harmony assured him. "If they give me any trouble, I'll just show 'em a little fang and scare them into shape."

"That's fine." Angel didn't even seem to hear her reply, and wandered back into his office.

As soon as he was out of sight, Harmony slipped a package out from under her desk. Another quick look towards the boss' door to make sure he wouldn't see her going the wrong way. And then, she cautiously headed out.

&&&&&&&&

Rose was sipping at a glass of water and wishing for a cup of coffee. At the last visit to the o.b.'s, her blood pressure still hadn't come down, so Dr. Mitchell had banned caffeine. Spike may have spent the whole time looking daggers at the man, but he still held her to the dietary restrictions he'd placed on her.

It wasn't until she heard the knock on the door that Rose remembered that she'd left the system turned off when Spike had left that morning. Lately, he had been making return trips to the apartment on the grounds that he'd forgotten something. 'Something' usually turned out to be giving her one more kiss, or at least, that was part of it. But if it wasn't turned on by the time he got back, he'd have a fit.

Checking the video monitor though told her that all was well. No evil axe murderers or kidnappers or anything of the sort. She opened the door.

"Hello, Harmony," Rose said, letting her in and getting a hug. "How did you manage to get away in the middle of the day?"

"Angel thinks I'm in accounts receivable," Harmony replied with a grin. "He'll buy just about anything when he's got something on his mind. Lucky for me, he did." She held out the package. "I know I already got you something, Rose. But I saw this in the store, and I just couldn't resist."

Rose tried to keep her smile warm and friendly, but little did Harm know, that the 'I just couldn't resist' gifts were piling up at an alarming rate. She opened the box. It was a mobile. Depending from its dozen or so lines were several tiny, pouty faced cherubs.

"Isn't it cute?" Harmony gushed. "Little guardian angels to protect Auntie Harmony's little darlings."

"It's lovely, Harmony," Rose agreed. She liked the gift and the thought behind it, but in the back of her mind, she wondered how Spike was going to react to it. She shrugged. There were angels, and there was Angel. Spike would just have to deal with it.


	30. Revelations

159

"You should have heard those two women in the waiting room gossiping," Angel commented as he escorted Rose from the doctor's office. Spike had elected to skip this trip just in case Dr. Mitchell was still around. Even he didn't trust his restraint that far.

"What were they saying?" Rose really wasn't overly interested. Her most pressing concern at the moment was getting home so she could kick her shoes off of her aching feet.

"They were trying to figure out our relationship," Angel explained, with a wicked grin. "They couldn't decide if I was your brother, or if you'd changed your mind about who the father is."

"Hmm?" Rose was thinking of no shoes, a hot bath, no shoes, maybe a peanut butter and tuna fish sandwich, no shoes, and was only half listening to him. Then, it filtered through. "What? That's crazy!" she expostulated. "Besides, what do you mean about changing my mind about who the father is? What could I possibly do to make Spike not be their father? Not that I'd want to."

"That's not it." Rose had assimilated so well that sometimes Angel forgot how short a time she'd been human until she threw him a curve like this. "What it means is they think you may have slept with both of us around the right time and decided that for some reason or other you'd rather believe that I was the father than Spike." He handed her into the car.

Rose sat silently for a few minutes, trying to digest the information and finding it extremely unpalatable. "I've seen that sort of thing on the television, of course, it's practically inescapable," she said slowly. "But I didn't think that people really acted that way. But I guess they must, or those women wouldn't have thought that. I wonder what they find to talk about when I'm not around to discuss." She started grinning. "Have they picked out a profession for you?"

Angel shook his head with a laugh. "They were still discussing it when we left. I wonder how they'd feel if they knew I could hear everything." He glanced over at Rose. "Why? What did they think Spike does for a living?"

"They think he's a rock star," Rose giggled. "They haven't quite figured out which one, but they're pretty sure he is one. Spike said that one time they were even debating asking him for his autograph."

They were almost out of the parking garage when Angel suddenly pulled back into a spot and put the car in park. Then, he threw back his head and roared with laughter.

&&&&&&&

Wesley walked into Anna Monroe's office. Ever since her catty behavior at Rose's baby shower, coupled with a bad performance rating, he'd kept a quiet but careful eye on her. She wasn't in her office when he arrived, so he decided to wait. He glanced around, shuffling papers, seeing what she was doing and how well she was doing it when he came across a piece of notebook paper. Curiosity getting the better of him, he started reading it.

'Your children were conceived as demons and both they and you shall reside in the deepest pits of hell along with their father. You are a blight upon humanity..," Evidently, she hadn't managed to finish this one, but Wesley had seen the original, and recognized the style. He folded it carefully and tucked it into his pocket. It hadn't been on top of the stack, so she probably wouldn't notice that it was missing.

He opened the door and glanced up and down the hall. Still no sign of her. Stepping back inside the office, he pulled out a cell phone and made a quick call. He was just putting the phone away when Anna made her appearance.

"Mr. Wyndam-Pryce," she murmured a little nervously. "What can I do for you?"

Wesley smiled at her disarmingly. "Angel would like to see you in his office, and I've come to take you there, that's all," he lied. He'd gotten rather good at lying, he noticed and wasn't altogether sure if that was a good thing.

&&&&&&&&

Spike had been going to see Angel anyway. Since Rose hadn't come to see him or called him since her doctor's appointment, he had no idea what was going on, and that irritated the hell out of him. But if Rose was resting, he didn't want to bother her. She'd been having quite a few nasty dreams of late, mostly horror shows featuring their unborn kids. He'd reluctantly sided with Fred that they might just be a normal part of her pregnancy, since the psychics hadn't found a spell attached to the original note. But bleeding, suffering hell, the tormented dreams her subconscious saddled her with. She wasn't resting too well at all at night. Between the dreams and the backaches and the heartburn. It made him wonder just why women did put up with it more than once.

He got to Harmony's lookout post, and she just waved him on in, so, he went.

The Watcher was there, and some woman that he just barely recognized. What was the pouf up to now, he wondered?

"Spike, this is Anna Monroe, a member of Wesley's department," Angel said. His eyes cautioned Spike against doing anything precipitate, and Spike wondered what that was about until he remembered that that was the name of the stupid bint that had upset Rose so at her baby shower.

"Ms. Monroe." Spike acknowledged the introduction formally, reigning in his temper. He leaned against the front of Angel's desk, more out of habit than for the annoyance value, this time. He glanced over his shoulder at Angel. "What's up?"

Wesley stepped forward and produced the piece of paper from his pocket. "I believe that I have found out who Rose's ill-wisher is," he replied, handing the note to Angel, since Spike seemed to want nothing to do with it.

Anna went deathly pale. She had no idea why she'd been summoned to the CEO's office, and her department head had been very close-mouthed about it even though she had turned on the charm and tried her utmost to find out. But she had never suspected that she'd been caught.

"You can't prove anything," she muttered. "It's just your word against mine." As a defense, it sucked, and she knew it, but there was nothing else she could come up with on the spur of the moment.

"I've known Wes for several years," Angel commented. "And you and I have never really met. Who's word do you think I'll be more inclined to believe?"

"And if you didn't do it," Spike added. "Then why do you smell of fear?" He didn't move, just stayed where he was staring at her. At her throat. That was usually enough to unnerve most people who knew what he was.

It certainly unnerved Anna. "It's not fair," she pouted. "I've been working here for years, and I do a good job. Then that pretty little miss waltzes in here out of nowhere and gets promoted right over my head. And then has the nerve to give me a bad review."

"And you think that excuses your outrageous behavior?" Due to his anger, Wesley sounded (if possible), even more English than usual. "You have no one to blame but yourself for your poor review, Ms. Monroe. It's a pity that this petty side of you hasn't been evident in Lorne's screenings. We could have fired you before you did such damage."

"Damage?" the Monroe woman scoffed. "What damage? So I scared the self-righteous little bitch a bit. I never did like her anyway. But I didn't do anything to her." She gulped nervously when she saw Spike's eyes go yellow.

"I think you should know," Angel said conversationally. "That Spike really doesn't like to hear people call Rose a bitch. He tends to take insults to her personally."

"Very personally," Spike agreed. "What do you think, Angel? I don't think an apology would quite cut it, since it wouldn't be sincere." His eyes still hadn't gone back to their normal blue, and the unnatural yellow orbs were making Anna even more nervous, if that were possible.

"What would the senior partners do, I wonder?" Wesley mused aloud. "I've heard some very interesting stories on that score."

"I thought that we were supposed to be better than the senior partners," Angel put in. "Although, there are times that I'll admit that I'm tempted to employ their methods." He looked to where Spike remained, seemingly indolent, but in reality, poised for action. "What do you think, Spike?"

"I think I'd favor slow dismemberment," Spike remarked. "Wouldn't want to drink her blood. Probably leave a bad taste in my mouth."

"And if we were to employ the legal method," the Watcher pointed out. "You could be looking at some jail time for sending threatening messages like that."

Anna looked from one face to another and realized that she had no friends here. Friends had never been something that one acquired at Wolfram and Hart. Merely acquaintances who could be friendly one minute, and stab you in the back the next. But these new people seemed to stick together. "Are you going to send me to jail?" Jail didn't appeal, but the sort of chastisement that the senior partners were renowned for appealed less.

"I think we'll settle for letter of resignation," Angel replied. "Effective immediately. No severance pay, no recommendations. Just get the hell out of here."

"And if Rose should get any more of those little love letters," Spike added in menacing tones. "Jail will be the least of your worries. The very least."

Anna swallowed again. "Can I use your computer?" she asked timidly. "Or shall I just type up the letter on mine when I go down to clean out my desk?"

"Use mine," Angel directed. "I want to watch you type it myself, make sure that you don't try to pull a fast one."

"And I'll escort you to your office to clear out your personal things," Wesley added. "Make sure that you don't try to leave with company property."

"And I'll see you out of the building," Spike put in. "To make sure that you stay the hell away from Rose. And if you ever pull any of this crap with her again, I'll just see you in hell."

&&&&&&&&&

When Spike got home, Rose wasn't there to greet him again. But that was becoming more usual now. With all her restless nights, she was often napping when he got off work. But once he entered the door, he heard her voice, the gentle rise and fall, the inflections. It was coming from the bedroom, and he would have wondered who the hell she was talking to in there, but further listening suggested that it was a monologue, not a dialogue. Rose was reading out loud.

He stood in the doorway, and there was Rose, lying on her side on the bed, reading out loud from one of the children's books. "Reading to the little ones, babe?" he asked, going over to kiss her. It would never have occurred to him not to kiss her after being away from her for several hours.

"Mm-hmm." Rose placed a bookmark in the volume and laid it aside. "This was about the only way I could get comfortable," she said, explaining her presence and position. "And if I didn't read to them, they got restless. But they like being read to."

"They're gonna be smart like you," Spike remarked. He didn't want to bring up the subject, but he thought he ought to, just to put Rose's mind at ease. "You're not going to be getting any more of those nasty letters, luv."

"Did they finally find out who was writing them?" Rose felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders.

"The stupid cow you gave a bad rating," Spike replied. "Thought she'd get a bit of her own back by scaring the bejesus out of you." Then, remembering to give credit where credit was due, he added, "Percy was the one who found out. About caught her in the act, it seems."

"I thought you weren't going to call him that anymore," Rose chided gently.

"I don't to his face," Spike protested. "Are you hungry yet, sweetheart?"

"Not yet," she replied quickly. "I had a snack when I got home from the doctor's. By the way, I'm going to have to go every week now until the babies are born."

"Is the pretty boy still handling the chores?" Spike asked.

Rose shook her head, smiling at him. "No, Dr. Pratt is back," she answered. "Although how you could think that anyone would want to flirt with someone as fat as I am..,"

"You're not fat," he argued. "You're just pregnant. Very pregnant." He looked her up and down. "Never did see a pregnant woman that looked so beautiful before either."

&&&&&&&&&&

"Angel." Wesley walked into his office unannounced about a week later. "I've just cracked another part of that prophecy. It would seem that The Powers have it rigged so that you can't get any information out of it until you're ready for it."

"So what's the latest?" Angel asked. "Please don't tell me that someone else is going to be after Rose."

"Well, that's still a possibility," the Watcher admitted. "After it did say that there would be many who would like to prevent the birth of her children. But that's old news. This is something different. It has to do with how the children will come into the world."

That definitely caught Angel's attention. "We're not talking something bizarre are we?" He felt his stomach tie itself into knots, thinking how Connor had come into the world.

"I imagine that would depend on your definition of bizarre," Wes allowed. "Here, I wrote it down. 'And when the time has come for the vessel to be delivered of the new race, her sole attendant shall be he who watches.'" Wesley looked a little shaken. "Do you realize what that means?"

"A lot of people watch all sorts of things," Angel hedged. The idea horrified him almost as much as it obviously did Wesley. "If I were you, I wouldn't tell Spike about this latest development."

"I'm not sure I'm even going to tell Fred," Wesley mumbled. "Why on earth does it have to be me? I don't know anything about babies, especially delivering them. But it almost has to be me, I'm the only Watcher here."


	31. Visitors From Out of Town

167

"Will you stop pouting?" Rose asked as the car began to weave through the traffic back to Wolfram and Hart.

"I am not pouting," Spike replied, keeping his gaze firmly on the traffic.

"Sulking, then," Rose suggested. "You know the doctor had to do that. It's part of his job. He needs to know these things."

"I know, I know," Spike agreed grumpily. "I know it's necessary, pet. I just really don't like another man looking there."

"Well, it ought to be over soon," Rose soothed. "At least, I hope so. I feel like I've been pregnant forever."

"He did say any day now, luv." Spike gave her hand a reassuring pat.

"And did you hear the part where he said that we can't..,"

"I heard," Spike interrupted. "I always hear the bad news." He laughed a little sadly. "I've done without before, babe, I'll survive. Especially when it's for the good of you and the kids."

&&&&&&&

They barely got in the door at the law firm when Harmony met them. Her eyes kept darting around like she expected something to jump out and grab her. "I'm glad you're back," she said, sounding relieved. "You're supposed to go to Angel's office immediately."

Spike gave a martyred sigh. "Stupid ponce couldn't wipe his own ass without help," he remarked disgustedly. He turned to Rose. "Why don't you run along up to the flat, babe, and I'll..,"

"Oh no," Harmony interrupted. "You're both supposed to go." Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "Giles is here."

&&&&&&&&&

Spike ushered Rose into Angel's office and saw her into a chair. "Hallo, Rupes," he said, as if the Watcher's presence was no big deal. He perched himself on the arm of the chair, with his arm draped around Rose. Since her presence had been specifically requested, he had a feeling that she was going to be the main topic of conversation. Just how many copies of that bleeding prophecy were laying about?

"Spike?" Giles took off his glasses and wiped them ineffectually, then placed them back on his nose. "I was given to understand that you were dead."

Spike shrugged. "You oughta know that the condition isn't necessarily permanent," he remarked. "Although I really don't recommend bein' a ghost. Plays merry hell with the sex life."

Angel rolled his eyes. He could see that Spike was trying to keep Giles off balance, and not doing too badly at it, but really.

"You seem to have overcome the difficulties," Giles remarked dryly. "Ms. Powers, I believe?" He addressed Rose. "I'm Rupert Giles, and I'm..,"

"Buffy's Watcher," Rose finished. "I know who and what you are, Mr. Giles. What I fail to grasp is why you are here."

Giles cleared his throat a bit nervously. "The council, as you may have guessed, has a copy of the prophecy regarding your pregnancy," he began.

"Tell us something we haven't already figured out, Rupes," Spike broke in. "Cor, I forgot what a windy bugger you can be."

"You're not helping, Spike," Angel said warningly. His heart wasn't in it, though. He'd had a good idea just what was on the wind ever since Giles' arrival that morning. And his hunch had proved to be right.

"To put it bluntly then," Giles continued. "We have come to the conclusion that given the import of Ms. Power's offspring, Wolfram and Hart is simply not the proper atmosphere for them. I've come to take her back to England with me."

&&&&&&&&&

"Since when did you start carrying a purse, Wes?" Lorne smiled, thinking that the researcher was one of the last people he'd ever thought would do such a thing.

"It's not a purse," Wesley corrected him. "It's a satchel." He gave up, people were going to find out anyway. "The prophecy clearly states that a Watcher is going to be the one to deliver Rose's children." He patted his satchel. "So, I thought I ought to be prepared."

"Our Rosebud just can't do anything like everybody else, can she?" Lorne remarked. "How's the Spikester taking the news?"

"Spike doesn't know," Wes admitted. "For what I would have thought were very obvious reasons."

"You mean like him going into an absolute tizzy?" the Pylean answered. "That and the fact that he might be tempted to put an end to your career just to keep you from seeing a whole new side of the blossom, shall we say."

"I can't say as I'm actually looking forward to it," the researcher confessed. "But I have been reading up, and I think I'm about as qualified as anyone who has never been to medical school or delivered a baby. I do intend to do my best, not just for the prophecy, but for Rose, as well."

"Better you than me," the demon replied. "I'd probably be passed out on the floor before things even got started." He paused. "Still, it's got to make you feel a little special, though, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does." Wesley summoned up a smile. "I believe that it does."

&&&&&&&

The argument had been going on for hours now, and Rose was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. She had an idea what was going on, but kept her own counsel about it. She suddenly had a flash of insight as to how things were supposed to be. And she hadn't really been contributing to the discussion, the three men were busily haranguing each other without any help at all from her.

"Not to put too fine a point on it," Giles was saying. "Ever since you moved into the most evil law firm in any dimension, we have lost a great deal of faith in your trustworthiness."

"Those kids are going to be the start of a whole race of vampires with souls," Angel pointed out. "Who better for them to grow up around than the two of us who already do have souls?"

"And we might even be in agreement with you if it weren't for the fact that you're here," Giles replied with more than a touch of asperity. "If you were to sever all connection with the place..,"

"He can't do that." Rose finally decided that it was time for her to speak up. "He's supposed to be here, Rupert. They all are. It was meant to be. Just as I was meant to be here, and nowhere else. Certainly not in England."

"Ms. Powers, I can certainly appreciate your desire to stay where things are familiar to you," Giles said with hints of condescension in his voice. "But if you would just put some thought into the gravity of the situation, I'm sure you'd see reason."

"She isn't going to England with you, Watcher," Spike growled. "Even if I agreed with you, which I don't, she's too far along to be doing that kind of traveling. We just got back from the doctor's, and he said that it could be any day now."

Giles' eyes bugged a little at that pronouncement. "I hadn't realized that things had progressed that far," he replied. "I'd have been here sooner, but we just translated the part of the prophecy that said where she was to be found."

"I've translated a few prophecies in my time," Rose said quietly. "And have you ever seen an instance where The Powers didn't have a reason for the time and place of any of the occurrences?"

"I'm beginning to believe that you're being deliberately obstructive," Giles said. "But sooner or later, you're going to have to see things my way. The council's way. You see, I've brought along a small army of Slayers."

&&&&&&&&

Wesley was on his way to see Angel when the entire building was engulfed in darkness from the outside. The lights were still on, but the pitch blackness without somehow seemed to dim them. There was no eclipse in the offing, and it was still mid-afternoon, so the sudden lightlessness was cause for alarm. He broke into a run.

&&&&&&&&

"That can't be good," Spike remarked, as the darkness suddenly settled around them. "It don't look natural for some reason."

Wesley broke into the office. "'And darkness shall settle around the dwelling place of the vessel, and the forces thereof shall attempt to destroy her'," he quoted. "I was just on my way to tell you." He looked in surprise as he realized there was someone else besides the people he more or less expected to be there.

Angel's phone rang. "Yes? What? Have everyone who can't fight get to one of the safe rooms, and everyone who can is to arm themselves and help out." He hung up. "The building is being flooded with vampires and demons of every description," he reported. He hated to do it, considering what a pain in the ass Giles was being, but he'd rather have Wes at his back in a fight. And it went without saying that an able-bodied vampire would be an asset. "Giles, I want you to go with Rose to one of the safe rooms. I'll give you something to defend yourself with, but hopefully, you won't need it."

"Hang about just one damn minute," Spike snarled. "After him all but saying that he's ready to kidnap Rose, then you just want to hand her over to him?"

"I need you to help fight," Angel replied. "And whatever differences we may have with Giles at present, he's not going to let anything happen to Rose."

"That was rather the point of my being here," Giles remarked. "To keep Rose and her offspring safe."

Wesley's heart sank as he realized that he was no longer the only Watcher around. He had a premonition of what The Powers may have had in mind. In any case, his satchel would just be in his way in a fight. He unslung the satchel and handed it to Giles. "Take this," he said. "I have the feeling that you may need it."

&&&&&&&

The Slayers had been unobtrusively infiltrating the building for hours, and they were now all stationed inside. When it suddenly seemed that it was starting to rain demons, they went into action, almost automatically doing what Slayers were meant to do.

&&&&&&&&&

"Here," Angel shoved Giles towards a door. "There's another door hidden behind the cabinet of cleaning supplies. Get in there and bolt it and don't open it for anyone you don't know."

"I hardly know anyone here," Giles pointed out. He didn't know how it had happened, but he'd seemed to have lost all control of the situation.

"I know them," Rose said quietly. She turned to Spike and gave him a lingering kiss good-bye.

Giles turned his gaze away from them, and Angel watched with a certain amount of amusement. "You kind of get used to it after a while," he remarked. "You almost have to, since they're always at it."

"Well," Spike demanded impatiently. "Are we going to go kick some demon ass, or what?"

"We need to go back to my office and get weapons," Angel reminded him.

"I want the claymore," Spike said firmly.

"I still haven't got the dents filed out from the last time you used it," Angel complained. "You're awfully hard on stuff, Spike. Especially my stuff."

The two vampires disappeared around a corner, still bickering.

Giles shoved the cabinet aside, no easy task, certainly, but he was not about to ask a woman as pregnant as Rose to lend a hand. He found the door and led her in.

Once in, he shot the heavy bolts as instructed. He didn't like taking orders from Angel, he didn't trust him anymore. But under the circumstances, he saw and bowed to, the necessity.

The room was well appointed. One thing that Wolfram and Hart was known for, besides being evil, was that they spared no expense. This safe room was a prime example. Sanitary facilities, mini-refrigerator, microwave, even linens and fold-up cots, in case the siege was a long one.

He looked at Rose, and she was leaning tiredly against a wall, hands resting on her distended abdomen. He decided that the first order of business was to set up one of the cots for her. She and her children were extremely important, and it wasn't her fault that she'd gotten caught up by bad influences.

He was wrestling with the cot, swearing under his breath, when Rose let out a muffled moan. "Is something wrong?" he asked with a sinking feeling. This day had definitely not gone as planned, and he suddenly had the feeling that as bad as it had been, it was about to get worse.

"Nothing at all," Rose panted, trying to recover from the pain. "It's not wrong, it's right. It's supposed to happen, and it's supposed to be here. I'm in labor."

"You're what?" Giles had gotten the cot unfolded, and now, he sat down on it in shock.

"They've been keeping me in the dark about the prophecy lately," Rose admitted. "But apparently I was supposed to have some idea, so The Powers have been giving me glimpses all afternoon. You're the one that's supposed to deliver my babies, Rupert."

"You mean they're going to be born here? Now?" Giles felt a rush of panic.

"Well," Rose admitted. "Not right now. But I've been having contractions almost from the time Spike and I walked into Angel's office."

Giles suddenly remembered his manners, not to mention priorities and got up and helped Rose into the cot. "While they may have supplies for almost every contingency here," he commented. "I doubt that even Wolfram and Hart anticipated needing supplies to help deal with a birth."

"Why don't you look in that satchel that Wesley gave you?" Rose suggested helpfully. "If the prophecy said that a Watcher was supposed to deliver my children, he probably thought it meant him. Knowing Wesley, he almost certainly tried to prepare for the possibility."

Giles opened the satchel to find that Rose was right. The bare minimal supplies required for the job, given the limited amount of available space, but it even included a manual on delivering babies. He started flipping through the manual when he realized that Rose was still talking. But when he stopped to listen, he came to the conclusion that she wasn't talking to him.

"It's all right, darlings," she cooed. "I know it's a little scary. It's a bit scary for mummy too. But the nice Watcher is going to help us, then we'll all be together like we were meant to be." She paused and seemed to listen for a moment. "Daddy's off fighting demons, he'll be back soon."


	32. Surprises and More Surprises

169

Spike and Angel raced through halls, expecting to meet a mad rush of demons, but there was only a trickle of them. They started hacking their way through such as there were, heading for the source of the influx, and to see why it was so slow.

They turned a corner to see two young girls duking it out with five demons and a vampire. When they saw armed reinforcements, one of them threw the vamp at Spike.

"What's the world coming to?" Spike tssked. "I had bigger wrinklies when I was first fledged." He tossed the vampire back to the Slayer, who neatly staked him. "Sorry, luv," he apologized. "But I had to throw that one back. He was too small."

"Will you quit grandstanding and actually do something?" Angel groused. Another vamp came at him from out of nowhere, and he passed him on to Spike. "Stop trying to impress the girls. Try impressing me for a change."

Spike decapitated the vampire with a flourish of the claymore. "If neither that nor my amazing good looks don't impress you," he remarked, heading for a demon. "Then I don't want to know what will. Sure as hell don't want to impress you bad enough to listen to Barry Manilow."

"Who's that?" asked one of the Slayers.

&&&&&&&&

"While we're waiting," Rose gasped, trying to ignore the pain. "I would like to say that I find your lack of trust in your friends to be deplorable and unbecoming."

"And what precisely puts you in a position to be able to judge?" Giles asked snappishly. "You're far too young a woman to have any idea of all the ins and outs..,"

"Did your copy of the prophecy say where I came from?" Rose asked. She'd been getting quite a few insights from the rest of The Powers almost ever since she went into labor.

"No," Giles admitted. "That part of the prophecy was obscured, I fear. Is it really that pertinent?"

"Do you think that The Powers That Be leave details like that unsupervised?" Rose queried. She shifted a bit in the cot, but couldn't find a way to get comfortable.

"I'm not sure what The Powers do and don't do," Giles mumbled. "Although for an event of this magnitude, I would imagine that they would want to keep a rather close eye..," He trailed off, eyes widening.

"A very close eye," Rose agreed, gritting her teeth. "Personal supervision, you might say, although I wasn't allowed to remember it when I first came here."

"Rose Powers," Giles said musingly. He seemed to be in a state of shock.

"The name wasn't very good camouflage, was it?" Rose remarked. "Please don't look at me like that, Rupert. I'm an ordinary human being now, just like you." A contraction hit her, and terminated thought processes for a few moments. "Okay, maybe not just like you."

"Not entirely," he agreed. He took his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This day had had more surprises than he really wanted to deal with. But there was one thing that was both important and immediate, and he didn't see any way out of dealing with it. He put his glasses back on and looked at the manual again. "I suppose that you should really remove, um, uh, your undergarments."

&&&&&&&

The main lobby looked like a battlefield, which indeed it was. Vampires and demons against the Slayers and those members of Wolfram and Hart that had the training. But the flood of demons kept pouring in from the darkness.

A slavering demon with enormous claws slashed at Spike, raking a furrow across his chest.

"Shit!" Spike swore. "That was a new shirt. Rose will have a fit." He disemboweled the demon, which slowed it down, but didn't stop it.

Gunn came up from behind the demon with an axe, which he buried in its head. It stopped moving and slowly slumped to the floor, and he wrestled his weapon back out. "Couldn't let you hog all the fun."

&&&&&&&

Angel was fighting almost mindlessly. A new target, take it out, and on to the next. He had reached a point where he scarcely noticed his allies, only the relentless onslaught of demons. Until suddenly there was someone fighting side by side with him, moving in such coordination with him that he had to look. He almost dropped his sword.

"Cordelia?" His brain abruptly disconnected.

"Concentrate, Angel," Cordelia scolded. She finished off the demon he'd been fighting. "I woke up when that black whatever it is settled over the building and I decided to see what was going on."

The conversation was halted for a few minutes while they took out a few more demons.

"Is it just me, or does this place look an awful lot like Wolfram and Hart?" Cordelia asked.

"It does, and it is," Angel replied, cutting down a reptilian-looking demon. "It's a long story, Cordy, too long to go into right now." But there were other things on his mind now. "I don't understand how you can be up and fighting. You've been in a coma for over a year now. Your muscles should have atrophied."

Cordelia shrugged. "Beats me," she replied. "I just woke up and got out of bed before anyone realized what was going on. Maybe because you needed me."

"I always have," Angel said softly.

&&&&&&&&

"I'm not saying that a flamethrower isn't an effective weapon, Fred," Wesley remarked. "I was merely asking that you try for a little more precision. You almost took my eyebrows off."

"That demon was about to jump you," Fred pointed out. "Eyebrows are a small price to pay."

"Conceded," Wesley agreed. "But try not to burn the building down, will you?"

"I hadn't planned on it," Fred replied. She turned to roast another advancing demon. "Are we still on for tomorrow night then?"

"If there is a tomorrow night," he answered.

&&&&&&&&

Giles clicked the button on the stop watch, and referred to the manual again. He was starting to feel he owed Wesley an apology for a great many of the things he'd said about him since their first acquaintance. "According to the manual," he said. "The contractions are close enough together that you should start pushing on the next one, Rose."

"All right," Rose agreed weakly. Her hair was plastered to her face with sweat, even though the room was air-conditioned. "Could I ask you a small favor, Rupert?"

"Certainly." He wiped the sweat from her brow. One of The Powers or not, he felt for this delicate little woman and what she was going through.

"Would you please sing to us?" Rose asked. "It might make it seem less frightening. And the children are used to being sung to. By me, by Spike, by Lorne." Another contraction hit, and she bit off a small shriek and concentrated on pushing.

Giles was a little taken aback by the request, but complied. He pulled on the rubber gloves that Wesley had included in his baby-delivering kit, feeling that the rest of The Powers wouldn't let her go through much more of this. And so he prepared to bring Rose's children into the world, singing.

&&&&&&&&

Three demons of varying descriptions were pressing Spike back, though he fought on gamely. He backed into someone, who started helping him fight. "I just about had 'em where I wanted 'em," he pretended to growl, though in fact, he'd been starting to feel just a bit alarmed. He looked at his new ally, expecting another Slayer. "Cordelia? I thought you were playing Rip Van Winkle."

"Spike?" She was as stunned as he was. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story, legs," he replied, twisting the claymore as he thrust it into a demon. He yanked it back out, and most of the demon's insides came out with it. "The short version is, my poncey grandsire doesn't have a monopoly on the whole soul-having deal anymore."

"You have a soul?" Cordelia was having trouble accepting that. But everything she'd seen since she'd woken up had been weird. And she was someone who knew weird. After all, she was from Sunnydale.

"Duck," Spike ordered. Cordelia complied automatically, and Spike beheaded another demon, splashing her with gore.

"You're paying for the dry-cleaning," she warned.

"What can I say?" Spike remarked. "This job can be a little hard on the wardrobe."

&&&&&&&&&

Lorne was in one of the safe rooms with about half a dozen other people. Very, very scared people. He took a swig from the bottle of water he had and wished for something stronger, although from the looks of this crew, he'd probably have to fight for it. Pipes sufficiently lubricated, he started singing again, he'd been doing so almost non-stop, just to help chase away the jitters. Theirs and his.

&&&&&&&&&

Rose's hands gripped the sides of the cot, straining with effort. A stifled scream escaped her lips.

"Got.., him," Giles said. He started tying off the umbilical cord. Baby supplies weren't on tap here, so he'd purloined some towels from the washroom, and once the infant was cleaned off, wrapped him up in it. He bit his lip, wondering what to do with the child. He and Rose both knew there was another one on the way, and she was going to be unable to hold her infant son until after his sister was born. With a sigh, he laid another towel on the floor and placed the baby on it. It didn't seem right, but it would have to do. "Sorry about this little fellow," he apologized, and wondered that he thought it necessary to do so with a newborn.

"He understands, Rupert," Rose panted. "He knows you're busy right now. All he really wants is to have his sister with him. They've never been apart before."

"I know they're special children, Rose," Giles replied. "But I can't imagine that they have that much of a grip on reality yet."

"They've been talking for about six months now," Rose informed him. "You wouldn't believe some of the things they say. I really must speak to Spike about his language again."

"They speak?" If his hands hadn't been such a mess from delivering a baby, Giles would have been polishing his glasses as was his habit when he didn't know what to say next.

"I think they're actually telepaths," Rose responded. "But only Spike and I and Lorne have heard them." Her knuckles went white again, as she clenched the sides of the cot, and a fresh coating of sweat broke out on her face.

Giles waited patiently while the pain washed over her. "Who is this Lorne person you keep mentioning?"

"He's from Pylea," Rose replied. "He's an empath. I suppose that's why he can hear them."

"A demon has been singing to your children?" This day was turning Giles' world upside-down. "Good grief. I suppose that the next thing you're going to tell me is that he's going to be one of the godparents."

"As a matter of fact..," Rose's answer was cut off by another contraction.

&&&&&&&&

By now, all the Angel Investigations team, plus the Slayers were concentrated in the main lobby. They were standing in a loose circle, surrounded by vampires and demons, and it wasn't looking good. Fred had had to give up on her flame-thrower, it had run out of fuel. She was now using a handgun, but she didn't have much ammunition left. Gunn, Wesley and Cordelia were starting to look extremely fatigued, and even the Slayers and the two vampires were starting to show the wear.

Then, all the attackers started melting away like the morning mist, and the darkness that had heralded their arrival began to abate. Soon, the defenders found themselves alone, save for the dead and wounded.

"Where'd they go?" Spike wondered aloud. "They could have had us in a few minutes. So why did they just give up?"

"I think I know." Wesley leaned on his sword to keep from falling over in exhaustion. "They were here to try to prevent the birth of the new race. I'd say the fact that they've left means..," He found himself talking to an empty hole where Spike had been.

"I am so out of the loop," Cordelia remarked. "Could someone fill me in on this new race? And what has Spike got to do with it?"

&&&&&&&&&

Giles had set up another of the cots, and put it beside the one Rose was on. He laid the infants on it so that they could be close to their mother.

"Rupert?" Rose asked wearily. "I hate to ask, but could you do me one more small favor?"

"I think your day's work deserves a few favors," Giles replied, wiping off her face again. "What do you want, Rose?"

"Please don't tell Spike that I was screaming," she pleaded. "I really wanted him to be proud of me."

"He will be proud of you, Rose," the Watcher assured her. He looked down at the children, laying there quietly next to their mother, and contrary to normal practice, their little eyes, one pair, blue, the other, gray, seemed to focus. "He will be."


	33. Epilogue

178

"Rose?" Spike's voice could be heard approaching from a distance. "Rose?" he repeated, much closer and much more urgently.

Giles headed towards the door. "I suppose I ought to..," he began.

"Wait," Rose interrupted. "If I might make a suggestion, it would be that as soon as you open the bolts, step to one side. Very quickly."

Rose's name sounded again, still nearer. "Why should I do that?" Giles asked as he prepared to draw the last bolt.

"Do you want the first thing that Spike sees to be you with my blood on you?" Rose asked. "Or would you rather that he see us first?" Against Giles' admittedly inexpert advice, Rose was curled up on her side, so she could look at and converse with her newborns.

"Point taken," Giles conceded. He pulled the bolt free and followed the path of the door as it swung open.

None too soon, for there was Spike. He just stood there in the doorway for a long minute, stock-still, taking in the scene. Then, he propelled himself to the middle of the room and knelt by the side of the cots. For once, Rose was not the focus of his attention, but rather, the tiny little towel-wrapped bundles between them. There was neither a smart-ass smirk, a happy smile, nor even a sappy grin on his face, but rather a look of awe. He reached out a tentative hand to stroke a down-soft little cheek, the fuzzy wisps of hair on a little head. "Daddy's here now," he murmured. When he did look up at Rose, there were tears in his eyes.

Giles took in the scene for a moment, then slipped out the door to give the new family some time alone together before the inevitable mob scene began.

&&&&&&&&

"Spike is going to be the father of a whole race of vampires with souls?" Cordelia was having difficulties absorbing the whole Spike with a soul thing.

"Hey guys, what's up? Did we win?" Lorne joined them, then saw the addition to the group. "Cordy?" he said in a choked voice.

"Lorne." Cordelia threw her arms around him. Now, that the danger had passed, there just might be time to catch up on things. But the once the greeting was over, the party continued to move, with the Slayers trailing behind, for lack of anything better to do. Happy as they were to have Cordelia back, everyone wanted to see the babies.

&&&&&&&

Spike had been spared the sight, but the first thing the rest of them saw was a less than band-box perfect Giles.

"What happened?" Angel demanded tersely.

Giles looked down at himself and realized what the cause of Angel's consternation was. "Like death, birth involves a certain amount of exposure to bodily fluids," he remarked in his usual dry, Giles voice. Then, he finally allowed himself to be human again, and his voice broke. "Dear God, it was..,"

"What you were meant to see," Cordelia broke in. "It was the whole reason that you weren't allowed to translate the whole prophecy until it was time."

They all turned to look at Cordy expectantly. "Visions," she said with a shrug. "I've been getting them like mad since the fighting stopped." She suddenly looked a little sad. "I'm sorry that it couldn't be longer."

"What couldn't be longer?" Fred asked, but Cordelia pushed on into the safe room.

"Cordelia?" Rose, who had never actually met her, knew her instantly. "But you should have..,"

"I know," Cordelia broke in suddenly. She forced a bright smile. "I just wanted to see the babies first." And as she looked down at the infant members of the new race, she began to glow, then slowly faded away.

Angel was at the forefront of the group jockeying for position in the doorway, and saw the entire thing. "Where did she go?" he asked, as his cell phone began to ring.

Rose's glowing happiness dimmed for a moment. "You'd better answer that, Liam," she advised softly. "It's very important."

Angel looked puzzled, but obeyed. "Hello? But she can't.., When? Did she ever regain consciousness?" He hung up, and turned to the rest of the group, still crowded in the doorway. "That was medical," he said heavily. "Cordelia just died. She never regained consciousness."

&&&&&&&&&&

Soft, light-brown curls tumbled down on the shoulders of the gleaming white gown. She'd been sent here to greet the new arrival. It was always deemed to be less of a shock if the newly arrived was met by a familiar face. She saw the glowing light signaling the entrance, and moved towards the approaching figure, arms outstretched.

"Welcome, Cordelia," she said.

"Hello, Joyce." Cordelia flung herself into Joyce's arms.

&&&&&&&&&

Rose never did go to the hospital, but instead was transferred to the medical facility at the law firm. Angel even persuaded her o.b. to make a house call, as it were, and he came, checked out everything the Wolfram and Hart medical staff had, and pronounced her fit and well.

The room was seldom without a visitor or two. If it wasn't one of Rose and Spike's friends, it was Giles, or a curious Slayer or two. Giles had stayed on for a few days, intent on mending a few fences with his old acquaintances, and while not entirely successful, had laid the foundations for a better relationship between them than had been the case since Angel et. al. had taken over Wolfram and Hart.

Rose was pained to notice that the one person she had counted on to be a frequent visitor, was in fact not a visitor at all. He called her every day, but put off a face to face conversation pleading that he was busy. She was unable to do anything about it for the first few days, since the medical staff and Spike between them watched her like a hawk. Then, one night, all was silent. Rose had persuaded Spike to go to the apartment and sleep in bed, rather than in a chair in her room, and amidst a great deal of grumbling he had finally conceded, due, in all probability to the fact that the next night, Rose herself would be back.

She got out of bed and tiptoed to the door. So far, so good. The coast seemed to be clear. She went to the double bassinet that held the twins, a necessity, they howled if they were separated, and carefully scooped them up into her arms. It was a bit awkward, but manageable.

She was out of breath and panting heavily by the time she reached her destination. Laying in bed in medical, she really hadn't realized just how much giving birth had taken out of her. But now, she found herself faced with a dilemma. How could she knock on the door when both of her hands were fully occupied? She solved the problem by kicking the door, and wincing because she had nothing on her feet but the paper-thin hospital slippers.

It hadn't really made that much noise, but he heard it anyway. He was tired and feeling wrung out, and really not up to company. He opened the door and saw Rose standing there with the children. Before he could gather his thoughts enough to say something, Rose broke the silence.

"Liam, I'm more sorry than I can possibly say," she whispered. "And it's all fading so fast that I couldn't explain all the ins and outs of why it was necessary. But it was time for her to rest, Liam, and know that she is with friends." She looked down for a moment and there was a muffled sniffle. "I was just hoping that you wouldn't associate losing her again with my babies." Another sniffle, not muffled at all. Then, her voice broke completely. "I'm so sorry," she repeated.

Angel gathered the threesome into his arms, and kissed the top of Rose's head. He'd had a moment with Cordelia that would never have been without some serious intervention, and instead of being grateful for what he had, he'd been, he had to admit, brooding over his loss. And taking it out on the innocents. "I'm the one who should be sorry, Rose," he mumbled. "I didn't mean to hurt you." It suddenly occurred to him how fatigued she looked. He held out his arms. "May I?"

&&&&&&&

They had sat up talking most of the night, while the twins, contrary to most expectations, slept. It was nearly dawn when Angel decided that he'd better see about getting Rose back to her room before she was missed. In fact, the medical staff had been remiss in not noticing her absence already. He knew they hadn't noticed because the first course of action would have involved calling him and informing him.

They walked back slowly, Angel shortening his long-legged stride to match hers, carrying a baby apiece. The children were awake now, and looking up at them solemnly. "Who's the prettiest little girl in the world?" he murmured to the infant in his arms. Ariel looked at him as though she understood, and produced a smile. Angel smiled back. "Uncle Angel's little sweetheart."

"Why do I have the feeling that these children are going to be spoiled beyond measure?" Rose asked rhetorically. She looked down at her son. "Mummy's little man," she cooed.

"We should have come back sooner," Angel remarked. "Even if the medical staff hasn't gotten off their.., backsides and noticed that you and the kids aren't there, pretty soon..," They turned the corner nearest her room. "Then certainly Spike will be there, and if he can't find you, he's going to have a cow."

"Already had one." The voice came from Rose's room. "You big, dumb, poncey git." Spike came into view. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bounce you off the wall." The words were typical Spike, but lacked their usual venom.

"You mean like my new girlfriend here?" Angel replied with a smile. He bent his head to kiss her cheek, and a little hand reached up and touched his.

"You're too old for her." Spike took his daughter from Angel. "He's not good enough for you, sweetie." He kissed the little button nose.

"How fickle men are," Rose sighed. "A pretty new face comes along and they forget all about you."

Spike wrapped his free arm around her and kissed her. "Couldn't forget the best thing that ever happened to me," he remarked. "Even if she does have a tendency to hang out with big poncey gits."

&&&&&&&&

Later in the day, Spike and Rose were getting the twins settled into their own room. "Ariel is wet," Rose remarked, reaching for a diaper.

"Best hand me one of those, babe," Spike replied. "Because Alaric is too." After they got the babies changed, he glanced around, something seemed different in the room. "That wasn't here before, was it?" He pointed to an object on one of the dressers.

"No, it wasn't," Rose murmured, curious. She went over to investigate. It was a music box that played a selection of lullabies. There was a small card attached. "Please find it in your heart to forgive someone who didn't know better but should have," she read. "There's no name on it, though."

"Let me see." Spike took the card. "Don't need a name, I recognize the handwriting. It's Giles'." Any further commentary on the Watcher or his gift went by the wayside when the twins began demanding to be fed.

Rose left Spike with the children while she went to fix two bottles. She wondered how she was going to handle feeding time when he went back to work. He'd been granted a week off, but after that, he was going to have to be hard at it again, earning the wherewithal for diapers, and formula and all the other baby necessities.

When Rose got back to the nursery with the bottles, Spike commented, "I'm surprised that you didn't want to feed them yourself, luv."

"I couldn't," Rose said, handing him one of the bottles. "My milk never came in. I think it was planned that way, since I wouldn't be able to give them everything they needed."

Spike looked at the dark pink liquid in the bottle. "How much of it is blood?" he asked, then popped the bottle into his son's hungry little mouth.

"About half," Rose answered. "While I was in medical, they experimented around a little, and that seemed to be what worked best."

"You're not drinking the stuff anymore, are you?" Spike inquired.

"No, once they were born, I had no desire for it anymore," Rose murmured, snuggling her daughter against her as Ariel greedily gulped down the bottle's contents. "It was all for them, I guess."

&&&&&&&&&

The twins were finally down for the night, but not before they'd put them both in the same crib. "Tomorrow, we'll try pushing the cribs together," Spike decided. "They can get used to being in their own beds but still be close to each other."

"We can try," Rose said a little dubiously. She laid down on their bed, but didn't pull the covers over herself, but rather seemed to be staring intently at something at the end of the bed.

"Whatcha looking at, sweetheart?" Spike queried, sliding in beside her.

"My toes," Rose said solemnly. "I guess I always took them for granted before. I didn't realize that toes could be so cute."

"Missed them?" Spike teased.

"I haven't seen them for a while," she said with a sheepish grin. She looked down again. "Maybe they aren't that cute after all."

"You wait till the doctor gives you the green light, luv," Spike said. "And I'll spend a whole night showing you just how beautiful I think every bit of you is. Even your toes." He pulled her into his arms. "Right now, I'm just happy to have you here beside me. Couldn't hardly sleep without you here."

&&&&&&&&

"Can you tell me why we're spending the first night that you're back in action in Angel's apartment?" Spike grumbled.

"It was easier than bringing the babies and everything they'd need here," Rose replied.

"I'm still not sure that I'm one hundred percent with the big nit watching my kids," Spike remarked.

"Lorne is there too," Rose said, going up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Besides, Angel has had some practice with an infant." She pulled his head down for a kiss. "Are you going to spend the night fussing about nothing, or were you planning on taking advantage of the privacy?"

"Well, he has had some experience with a baby," Spike conceded. He wasn't fooling anybody, even himself. He swept Rose up into his arms. "I've missed making love to you, babe."

&&&&&&&&&&&

"Tell you what big guy," Lorne suggested. "You can tell the bedtime stories, and leave singing lullabies to me."

"I don't see any problem with that," Angel agreed. "I'm just glad we were first on the rotation."

Lorne picked up Ariel. "The absolute image of Rosebud," he remarked. "You just wait a few years, princess. The boys will be standing in line for you."

Angel picked up Alaric. "Hey there, little fella," he said. And in his head, he heard, just as plainly as speech, one word, and even though it was telepathy, there was a baby-lisping quality to it. "Spike," he said in exasperation.

"What gives, big guy?" Lorne hadn't heard a thing.

"He just called me a ponce," Angel explained.


End file.
